OTTAWA \u2014 Reproductive health advocates say the federal government\u2019s failure to commit to funding pharmacare in all provinces and territories is leaving people with a lot of uncertainty, and could create inequality across the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really disappointing, honestly,\u201d said Liz Thompson, advocacy lead for Cover Contraception.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems like they don\u2019t really know what they\u2019re going to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first phase of the Pharmacare Act, which was passed last fall by the Liberals and the NDP, calls for the federal government to fund the cost of contraceptives and diabetes medications for patients.<\/p>\n
It also calls on the government to study the best way to create a universal pharmacare program to cover all medications.<\/p>\n
The Trudeau government signed deals with B.C., P.E.I., Yukon and Manitoba to cover the cost of certain medications for four years.<\/p>\n
It also set aside $1.5 billion in the last budget to fund the first phase of the program \u2014 but the new Liberal government will not commit to signing deals with the remaining jurisdictions.<\/p>\n
Health Minister Marjorie Michel was asked about the lack of new pharmacare negotiations with the provinces last week. She did not commit to getting the remaining deals done.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a new government, and we are in a new context, and we have to have discussions with the provinces to see how we can support them,\u201d she said at a press conference in Fredericton.<\/p>\n
During the spring election campaign, the Liberals pledged in their platform to \u201cprotect dental care and pharmacare \u2014 two critical services and key parts of a strong public health care system that (Conservative Leader) Pierre Poilievre would cut.\u201d<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Prime Minister Mark Carney said in response to questions that the Liberal leader promised during the campaign \u201cthat we wouldn\u2019t cut or abolish any of the existing deals.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s incredibly disappointing and demonstrates a fundamental lack of leadership on this issue,\u201d said Teale Phelps Bondaroff, the chair and co-founder of the Access B.C. campaign, which has been advocating for prescription contraceptive coverage since 2017.<\/p>\n
Phelps Bondaroff said the Liberals do not seem to be prioritizing \u201cpeople\u2019s health and well-being and equity and equality\u201d as they focus on the threat of U.S. tariffs.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have a government that\u2019s hyper-focused on these macro issues and I worry that they\u2019re forgetting about everyday Canadians in that process,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
B.C. became the first province to offer contraceptive coverage in 2023 and was among the first to sign a federal funding agreement.<\/p>\n
Access B.C. now has sister organizations in a number of other provinces, including Cover Contraception in Ontario.<\/p>\n
Dr. Amanda Black, past president of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada, said if the government does not sign new agreements, it will be a step backward for women\u2019s health in Canada.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we need to pressure both at the provincial level as well as at the federal level,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The Canadian Press reached out to Diabetes Canada for comment but has not heard back.<\/p>\n
Julie Veinot, the executive director of South Shore Sexual Health in Nova Scotia, said people across the country should expect to have equal coverage.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is quite a shock to me that there is even the possibility that some provinces won\u2019t get this coverage,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Veinot said she expected the Liberals would continue their own program.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, we know the cost of living is super high right now, so we don\u2019t want folks to have to pick between paying rent and buying birth control,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The Canadian Labour Congress celebrated the passage of the Pharmacare Act last fall, calling it a victory and a first step toward something unions have been advocating for years.<\/p>\n
Elizabeth Kwan, a senior researcher at the congress, said if the government does not reach deals with the remaining provinces and territories, it is \u201cbreaking a promise to Canadians.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government needs to understand that nation-building means also nation-building with the social programs that define us as Canadians. And I believe that that\u2019s part of what makes us a sovereign country,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Kwan added that many Canadians depend on coverage for medications through their workplace insurance plans, and \u201ca lot of people in Canada are losing their jobs these days\u201d \u2014 from the thousands laid off due to the closure of Hudson\u2019s Bay, to the 10,000 jobs lost at Ontario colleges due to cuts and program cancellations. <\/p>\n
Layoffs and job losses are expected to rise in tariff-exposed sectors like manufacturing and industries related to steel and aluminum, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd this is why we need a universal public system,\u201d Kwan said.<\/p>\n
With files from Hannah Alberga in Toronto<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 28, 2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OTTAWA \u2014 Reproductive health advocates say the federal government\u2019s failure to commit to funding pharmacare in all provinces…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30406,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[45,43,84,47,44,23705,714,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-30641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-business","tag-headlines","tag-health","tag-national","tag-news","tag-pharma","tag-politics","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30641"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30641\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}