Watch analysts break down what Budget 2025 means for public health care in Canada
Canada cannot afford to not invest in public health care. Carney’s first budget, released on Nov. 4, has money for hospitals and beds but fails to support the retention of health care workers. Nor does it offer new funding for the expansion of pharmacare.
Economist Angella MacEwen and policy analyst Steven Staples joined the Canadian Health Coalition’s Anne Lagacé Dowson on November 10 to discuss what the budget means for the future of public health care. The webinar is now available for viewing here:
Steven Staples, National Director of Policy and Advocacy of the Canadian Health Coalition, noted the budget did not include a dedicated section on health care and that the federal government seemed to be taking the view that health care is a provincial responsibility.
“We know all levels of government are involved in delivering health care,” said Staples, pointing to the federal government’s role in not just contributing funding but also in playing a pivotal role in enforcing the Canada Health Act.
“The Carney government did make a commitment of $4 billion for hospitals and health care infrastructure during the election and that has turned into $5 billion and is being wrapped in this overall infrastructure fund,” said Staples while noting that the investments must be strategic and not involve public-private partnerships (P3s).
Angella MacEwen is the senior economist for the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). She noted that the budget has the Canada Health Transfer not keeping up with inflation, which equates to a cut of $300 million to the transfer in 2028 and in 2029.
MacEwen also highlighted expected future cuts to health care in the form of programs that are set to end. “They’re not cutting them right now, but their intention is not to extend them. That would include the $600 million per year in transfers for long-term care that will be allowed to expire after 2027,” said MacEwen.
“There was no mention in the budget of upholding the Canada Health Act or implementing long-term care standards. At CUPE, we’re really concerned that we’re going to see increasing privatization in the delivery of health care across Canada because they’re cutting funding and they’re not prioritizing these standards,” said MacEwen.
Both Staples and MacEwen talked about the cuts to Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada of about 15 per cent. MacEwen added that the 15 per cut to Veterans Affairs is going to mean reduced health care services for veterans, which will have an impact on the overall health care system.
MacEwen cautioned that some of the good news for health care and health care workers found in the budget is not new money but money that has been shifted around.
“That tax credit for personal support workers is absolutely necessary, but it’s reprofiled money. They’ve already announced it. They had budgeted a certain amount of money to sign agreements with provinces to increase the wages for personal support workers, but only BC, Newfoundland, and the Northwest Territories had signed an agreement under that plan. So, they’ve just taken this money and they’ve switched it. It’s temporary. Workers in provinces where that those agreements have been signed aren’t eligible for it,” said MacEwen.
MacEwen noted the lack of funding to train and retain workers while also noting that the money for infrastructure is actually less money than what Trudeau had allocated for infrastructure. “They’ve reprofiled a bunch of money. They’ve taken money out of certain housing programs and they’ve taken money out of the public transit program and they’ve reprofiled it,” said MacEwen.
Adding to Staples’ observation that the budget opens the door to more privatization of health care, MacEwen said that money for provinces or municipalities that might be used for health care infrastructure or universities or water require a private partner. “So they definitely are pushing private a privatization agenda here.”
Stay tuned for upcoming webinars.
For more information, contact Tracy at tglynn@healthcoalition.ca.
