{"id":936076,"date":"2026-10-17T05:56:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T05:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/936076\/"},"modified":"2026-10-17T05:56:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T05:56:09","slug":"health-ministers-secure-funding-extensions-from-ottawa-but-long-term-commitments-remain-in-limbo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/936076\/","title":{"rendered":"Health Ministers secure funding extensions from Ottawa, but long-term commitments remain in limbo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Federal Health Minister Marjorie Michel speaks to media while Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones, left, and Manitoba Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara listen in at a meeting of provincial and territorial health ministers in Winnipeg, on Friday.John Woods\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

By the end of a two-day interjurisdictional meeting, Canada\u2019s provincial and territorial health ministers were able to receive assurances on funding extensions from Ottawa, but will need to convene again before 2027 to confirm the future of expiring transfer programs.<\/p>\n

Federal Health Minister Marjorie Michel declined to make any commitments on Friday beyond what she described as \u201cbridge dollars\u201d until further negotiations, including for the Canada Health Transfer, the country\u2019s primary vehicle for provincial and territorial funding.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe work is starting today. It\u2019s not like a big announcement \u2013 it\u2019s a bridging,\u201d Ms. Michel said in Winnipeg, where ministers from across Canada gathered to meet their counterparts this week, as they attempted to reach a consensus on issues related to health care.<\/p>\n

Despite jurisdictional differences on many policies, such as the privatization of health care and access to medical assistance in dying, the ministers presented a united front against challenges that have been bogging down Canada\u2019s strained hospitals and medical facilities. Their most wholehearted agreement, the ministers told reporters, was on the need for longer-term and stable commitments from the federal government.<\/p>\n

Health ministers say one-year extension of mental health, home care funding not enough<\/a><\/p>\n

Ms. Michel, however, answered the ministers calls by saying that the federal budget cycle has changed. Traditionally, the government\u2019s fiscal blueprint has been tabled in the spring, but it will arrive in the House of Commons this fall, a date for which has not yet been announced.<\/p>\n

Securing an agreement from Ottawa to extend funding for mental health, substance-use treatment and home care had been a key priority for the provincial and territorial ministers.<\/p>\n

They issued warnings for weeks leading up to their meeting, repeatedly calling out Ottawa\u2019s silence on programs set to expire next year, portraying the expiration as a potential spending cut that would affect multitudinous parts of the health sector. <\/p>\n

But on the night before their meeting, Ms. Michel announced via social media late Wednesday that her government will extend those expiring programs for at least one year, which she said would represent $1.2-billion in funding.<\/p>\n

Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones said the temporary change came at the last minute and lacked clarity. \u201cRespectfully, I would say that a one-year extension of an existing 10-year [agreement] about to expire does not fill us with a lot of joy,\u201d she said Thursday.<\/p>\n

On Friday, Uzoma Asagwara, Manitoba\u2019s health minister, said officials were pleased to see Ms. Michel \u201casking really important questions, getting clarification, and really hearing our concerns and pledging their support to work with us.\u201d <\/p>\n

Mx. Asagwara added that, as a direct result of Friday\u2019s discussions, another interjurisdictional meeting will take place by December this year. <\/p>\n

Provincial and territorial health ministers want the Canada Health Transfer to grow at a minimum of 5 per cent annually, rather than the 3-per-cent growth rate it is expected to reach in 2028, Mx. Asagwara said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Ms. Michel assured the health ministers that the next stage of discussions will be on funding through the Canada Health Transfer and other bilateral agreements.<\/p>\n

The Canadian Medical Association and the Canadian Nurses Association, both of which were in Winnipeg as well, said they wish there was more clarity from Ottawa this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really need to see a more sustainable path towards funding and staffing for our nurses and physicians,\u201d said Valerie Grdisa, chief executive of the CNA, in an interview. \u201cWe can\u2019t really actually plan anything without those proper commitments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking on behalf of all 13 territories and provinces as the meeting\u2019s host, Mx. Asagwara said several other topics had come up during the ministerial discussions, such as targeted care for Indigenous communities and equitable access in the pharmaceutical sector. <\/p>\n

Opinion: Why are Canada\u2019s health care standards so different for Indigenous people?<\/a><\/p>\n

But recent federal changes toward medical assistance in dying, commonly referred to as MAID, which were expected to be discussed, were not a major factor this week. <\/p>\n

Federal Justice Minister Sean Fraser said last week that Ottawa intends to introduce legislation to bar MAID for patients whose sole underlying condition is a mental illness.<\/p>\n

He said the federal government intends to amend the Criminal Code to legally decriminalize the provision of MAID where there is an advance request. It allows patients to formalize their wishes ahead of when they no longer have the capacity to offer consent to end their lives by MAID.<\/p>\n

Ottawa\u2019s approach, however, will not mean that Canadians across the country would automatically be able to make advance requests once the bill becomes law. It will be up to each province and territory to decide whether it will offer that choice and to determine the framework for that.<\/p>\n

Mr. Fraser has not provided further details on the bill, while Ms. Michel declined to address the matter Friday.<\/p>\n

National consultations, conducted from November 2024 to February 2025 by the federal government on advance requests found that a majority of Canadians are supportive of advance requests. <\/p>\n

Mr. Fraser said he expects conversations on MAID to unfold at the provincial level. <\/p>\n

But Ms. Jones from Ontario said federal, provincial and territorial ministers did not have those discussions this week. Ms. Michel offered a small update related to MAID on Friday that was \u201chelpful,\u201d Ms. Jones said, without providing further details.<\/p>\n

In October, 2024, Quebec became the only Canadian jurisdiction to allow patients diagnosed with a serious and incurable illness that leads to incapacity \u2013 such as Alzheimer\u2019s \u2013 to apply in advance for MAID. Ottawa did not challenge Quebec\u2019s law, but it did not change the Criminal Code either.<\/p>\n

Sonia B\u00e9langer, Quebec\u2019s health minister, who was also in Winnipeg this week, declined to comment on the matter. <\/p>\n

Ms. Jones said Ontario is \u201cvery appreciative\u201d that the federal government does not plan to expand access to MAID. \u201cMoving forward, we will obviously individually assess for how it impacts our residents provincially and territorially.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Federal Health Minister Marjorie Michel speaks to media while Ontario Health Minister Sylvia…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":936077,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,20739,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-936076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-ottawa","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936076","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=936076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936076\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/936077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=936076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=936076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=936076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}