SUDBURY— MP Viviane Lapointe, MP Marc Serre, and Prime Minister Trudeau are in Sudbury today sharing details of the Canada-Ontario healthcare agreement.
The Government of Canada recently announced a new $3.1 billion agreement to improve health care in Ontario. This investment will help increase access to family doctors, reduce wait times, hire more health care workers, and ensure faster care for Canadians, including mental health care.
“The federal government is investing and working with the Province of Ontario to make improvements to a system that has seen significant challenges over the past few years. This agreement will provide the people of Sudbury and northern Ontario with improved access to key healthcare supports.” says MP Lapointe.
Both levels of government are committed to ensuring that under-served communities receive equitable health care access, experience, and outcomes.
Under the Canada-Ontario Agreement to Work Together to Improve Health Care for Canadians
(2023-24 to 2025-26), Canada and Ontario agree that, with financial support from Canada, Ontario will continue to build and enhance its health care system towards achieving some or all of the objectives of:
timely access to high-quality family health services, including in rural and remote areas;
a sustainable, efficient and resilient health workforce that provides Canadians timely access to high-quality, effective, and safe health services;
access to timely, equitable, and quality mental health and substance use services to support Canadians' well-being; and
access to a patient's own electronic health information that is shared between the health professionals they consult to improve safety and quality of care, and which informs Canadians on how the system is working.
Highlights for Sudbury and northern Ontario:
NOSM Spots Increase
Expanding medical school education by adding 260 undergraduate seats and 449 postgraduate positions in the province over the next five years to increase access to family and specialty-physicians and other health care professionals. Of the 449 new postgraduate positions, 60 per cent will be dedicated to family medicine and 40 per cent will be dedicated to specialty programs.
The Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) will receive 30 undergraduate seats and 41 post-graduate positions to support northern communities and the Ontario First Nation Residency Program.
Youth Mental Health
Mental health is a central pillar of this important investment. Ontario will add five new Youth Wellness Hubs to the 22 that have opened since 2020, making it faster and easier for youth to connect to much needed mental health and substance use services in rural, remote, and Indigenous communities.
Increase Cancer Screening
Increasing hospital surgical capacity/growth ($290.5M per year)
Support growth volumes in lung, colorectal, and breast cancer screening programs. This includes increased access to FIT kits in First Nations Communities and the expansion of trailer-based mobile health services in Northern Ontario to reduce barriers associated with preventative cancer screening services.
Increase French language service: Equity of access for under-served groups and individuals, including those in official language minority communities.
Addressing the challenges faced by the increasingly diverse Francophone populations in accessing French Language Health Services.
For example, Ontario is working to increase French Language Health Services human resource capacity, improve data collection, and expand French Language communications capacity and engagement.
These equity efforts aim to not only enhance access to quality French Language Health Services for Francophones in Ontario, but to also ensure compliance with the French Language Services Act.
Addressing anti-indigenous racism in healthcare and Indigenous mental health:
Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, recognizing their right to fair and equal access to quality and culturally safe health services free from racism and discrimination anywhere in Canada, including through seamless service delivery across jurisdictions and meaningful engagement and work with Indigenous organizations and governments.
Ontario is committed to ensuring that under-served communities receive equitable health care access, experience, and outcomes. Ontario is working to include supports by identifying and addressing needs for underserved communities, including Indigenous, Francophone, Black and other racialized communities, refugees, and individuals experiencing homelessness.
