• Canada Dental Care Plan working but costing more than expected: auditor general

  Source: CBC Politics
  Date: 2026-10-29 14:50:35.0
  Tags: [National, Healthcare, Affordability, Finance, Social Services]

  A report by Auditor General Karen Hogan found that Health Canada's Canadian Dental Care Plan exceeded its initial budget commitments by $1.1 billion during the 2024–25 and 2025–26 fiscal years, with an anticipated further shortfall of $2.4 billion by 2032 due to higher-than-anticipated claim payments per member. While the program successfully reduced average household out-of-pocket dental expenses from $536 in 2023 to $264 for users, the audit revealed persistent public confusion, with 560,000 members (16 per cent of those accessing services in 2025) receiving full coverage, while dental providers spent roughly an hour a day addressing coverage ambiguities and call centres struggled to meet quality metrics. In response, Health Canada engaged the Office of the Chief Actuary to provide quarterly actuarial forecasts to improve claim payment projections and financial planning.

  Read Original

• How does P.E.I. decide which drugs to cover? It’s more complicated than you might think

  Source: Prince Edward Island - Regional News
  Date: 2026-10-10 09:00:00.0
  Tags: [Prince Edward Island, National, Healthcare, Affordability, Finance]

  The federal government has renewed the Improving Affordable Access to Prescription Drugs program (IAAPD) for Prince Edward Island with $32 million in funding over three years. The program, which launched as a pilot in 2021, has helped add more than 100 medications to P.E.I.'s public formulary and lowered patient co-payments to $5 for many eligible drugs. In addition to the IAAPD, P.E.I. participates in the federal pharmacare program covering specific diabetes medications, supplies, and contraceptives. The multi-step drug coverage process involves Health Canada authorization, price reviews by the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board, cost-effectiveness evaluations by Canada's Drug Agency, collective price bargaining by the Pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance, and final provincial formulary decisions.

  Read Original

• Ottawa must renew mental health and home care funding, health ministers say

  Source: Global News Politics
  Date: 2026-10-02 12:23:46.0
  Tags: [National, Manitoba, Healthcare, Social Services, Seniors, Finance]

  Provincial and territorial health ministers from across Canada are raising concerns over the impending expiration of $1.2 billion in dedicated federal funding agreements for mental health, addictions, and home care set to sunset in March 2027. The funding stems from a broader $200 billion 10-year health care funding pledge made in the 2023 federal budget, which included $4.8 billion targeted specifically for home care, community care, and mental health services over four years. Officials, including Manitoba Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara and Canadian Mental Health Association president Marion Cooper, warn that failing to renew these targeted agreements will result in a fiscal cliff, leading to reduced community services and job losses in the health sector.

  Read Original

• As federal budget nears, Canada’s health ministers to meet to talk funding

  Source: Global News Politics
  Date: 2026-09-28 22:20:24.0
  Tags: [National, Ontario, Healthcare, Finance]

  Canadian federal, provincial, and territorial health ministers are convening for an emergency meeting ahead of the upcoming federal budget to address concerns over the upcoming expiration of targeted healthcare funding. Provincial leaders, including Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones, warn of a fiscal cliff as bilateral agreements for home care, community care, and mental health and addiction services—part of the 2023 federal funding package totaling $200 billion over 10 years, which included $4.8 billion for home and community care and mental health, $3 billion for long-term care safety, and $1.7 billion for personal support worker wages—are set to sunset between 2026 and 2028. Additionally, the federal government's Canada Health Transfer growth rate is scheduled to drop from a guaranteed minimum of five percent annually to three percent after fiscal year 2027-28.

  Read Original

• NTHSSA reports first budget surplus in 10 years, largely due to staffing vacancies

  Source: Territories - Northern Affairs (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut)
  Date: 2026-08-28 12:38:57.0
  Tags: [National, Healthcare, Finance, Social Services]

  The Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority (NTHSSA) reported its first budget surplus in 10 years, recording a $4.7 million operating surplus for the 2025/26 fiscal year due to persistent staffing vacancies and one-time federal funding. This surplus reduced the organization's accumulated deficit from $300.8 million down to $296.1 million. The fiscal result was driven by $30 million in additional funding from the Government of the Northwest Territories, $23 million in medical travel recoveries, and federal allotments, even as medical travel costs increased by $21 million. Chief Executive Officer Kim Riles noted that while vacancies contributed to the financial surplus, they drive up costs elsewhere through reliance on casuals, agency staff, and overtime.

  Read Original