Alberta on Monday became the seventh province to reach a tentative agreement with Ottawa on health care funding.
The federal government announced in a statement Monday that more than $24 billion will be invested in Alberta’s health care system over the next 10 years.
This sum includes $2.9 billion related to a new bilateral agreement focused on shared health priorities, and $233 million serving as an immediate and one-time top-up to the Canada Health Transfer, intended to meet “urgent needs”.
These urgent needs include support for children’s hospitals and emergency rooms, as well as solving long wait times for surgery.
The bilateral agreement also aims to improve access to family health services, including in rural and remote areas and in service-deficit communities.
Other goals include promoting a “resilient and supported” health workforce in the system, improving services in the mental health and addictions sector, and access to Albertans’ electronic health information.
Alberta therefore joins the four Atlantic provinces, Ontario and Manitoba, which all concluded a bilateral agreement with Ottawa last week.
These agreements in principle are a first step towards the realization of the comprehensive proposal for health care funding of $ 196 billion over 10 years that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau presented to the provinces on February 7 in Ottawa.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith called this first step “productive”. “I look forward to continuing discussions with the Government of Canada on how we can secure longer-term sustainable funding,” added Ms.me Smith in a written statement.
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