OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada’s federal government said Thursday it has agreed in principal to a healthcare funding deal with Ontario that includes a new 10-year C$8.4 billion ($6.2 billion) investment plan and a one-time C$776 million payment for the province’s urgent needs.
Canada’s public healthcare systems have been strained by the pandemic and staffing shortages, with hospitals stretched to the breaking point.
The agreement will “modernize our health care system, improve access to family health services and mental health services, reduce surgical backlogs and support health workers,” Canada’s Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said in a statement.
The bilateral deal follows a broader agreement between Ottawa and Canadian provinces and territories earlier this month.
In total, Ontario is slated to receive about C$74 billion in federal healthcare funding over 10 years, the federal health ministry said. Ontario is Canada’s most populous province and home to the country’s financial capital Toronto.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with provincial and territorial premiers earlier this month to hammer out a deal to fix Canada’s overburdened public healthcare system.
He offered C$46.2 billion in new funding for the country’s public healthcare system over 10 years, which the premiers accepted last week. The additional funding was part of a larger C$196.1 billion package in health funding over a decade.
($1 = 1.3526 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Editing by Richard Chang)
