Health minister says he’s on track to strike pharmacare deals with provinces by spring

It “absolutely is possible” for the federal government to strike pharmacare agreements with all the provinces by the spring, Health Minister Mark Holland said Friday. 

“I’m not saying this is going to be easy,” Holland said from the G7 health ministers’ meeting in Ancona, Italy. “Getting this bill adopted in the House and getting it through the Senate was incredibly difficult.”

Bill C-64, which lays the foundation for a universal pharmacare plan, passed the Senate Thursday evening and received royal assent shortly afterward, making it Canadian law. 

The legislation allows the government to strike deals with provinces and territories to cover diabetes and birth-control medications as part of the public health system.

Holland said conversations with provinces are ongoing and “very positive” and that his government “is in a position where we can announce deals in the near future.”

In February, Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange said she was unhappy with the proposed bill, which was negotiated between the Liberals and the NDP as a part of their supply-and-confidence agreement. 

At the time, LaGrange said Alberta already has “robust” coverage of medications through programs like Alberta Blue Cross, and would rather Ottawa give Alberta per-capita funding to bolster its own program.

“Give us the dollars,” LaGrange said. “Allow us to enhance the programs we actually have now, rather than create more bureaucracy.”

‘The Canadian population wants it to get done’: Holland

Holland said that based on his past working relationships with his provincial counterparts, the spring timeline remains realistic.

“I would say with [health minister] Everett Hindley in Saskatchewan or Adriana LaGrange that we’re able to talk an enormous amount of what we have in common and what we can get done together,” Holland said.

“And I think with that spirit, it absolutely is possible to get this done and I think the Canadian population wants it to get done, because I think we all understand that this gap in our health-care system must be closed.” 

Holland says there may be disagreement between the federal government and the provinces on how to provide medicines to people, but says there is no disagreement that Canadians need diabetes medication and contraceptives. 

The federal government has already signed a memorandum of understanding with British Columbia, which Holland said outlines the broad strokes of a future deal but without any of the details. 

“The memorandum of understanding with British Columbia was really essential, very important,” Holland said. “It helped the Senate see exactly how these deals might live and help Canadians understand how they might live.”

1st step in broader pharmacare regime

In B.C., the provincial government already covers oral contraceptives so federal funding for those products will instead be used to cover hormone therapy for women.

The Pharmacare Act is intended to be the first step in a broader pharmacare regime that will expand to include other medications in the years ahead. 

Canadians are set to go to the polls sometime within the next year, and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has come out against the proposed single-payer universal drug plan, arguing it would force Canadians to give up their own private drug plans.

In February, federal officials told reporters in a background briefing that the government does not know how much this first phase of the pharmacare program will cost, and the final price will be determined only after negotiations with the provinces and territories.

When pressed, Holland estimated the cost of providing diabetes medications and contraception at $1.5 billion.