Where do the parties stand on health care?

Note: this article is from 2021. Click here for information about the 2025 election.

Health care has been a hot topic in the federal election, with clear differences between the political parties. The Canadian Health Coalition and the media are tracking these commitments carefully. After the election, public health care advocates will work to ensure that the government keeps to its election commitments.

The Conservatives say that they want to increase funding to provinces through the Canada Health Transfer (CHT), but will not set the condition that the funds be actually used for health care (instead of tax cuts, for instance), and they have not committed to preventing further privatization of public healthcare.

• The Liberals have pledged new legislation with national standards for long-term care and billions of dollars more in conditional funding for provinces, but refuse to phase-out for-profit companies and investors from the long-term care sector.
• The NDP have pledged to bring in pharmacare and other new universal programs such as dental care and vision care, create a capacity for domestic vaccine production, and will get for-profit investors such as Revera out of long-term care.

You can read these commitments and other policy promises from all of the parties at these websites below.

Canadian Health Coalition members

• Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions: https://thenextcrisis.ca/assets/img/ReportCardDoc-English-FINAL.pdf

• Public Service Alliance of Canada: http://psacunion.ca/federal-party-platform-comparison

Media

• CBC: https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/elections/federal/2021/party-platforms/

• The Toronto Star: https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal-election/2021/09/13/what-are-the-federal-leaders-promising-this-election-use-our-tool-to-compare-each-partys-promises.html?rf

• Maclean’s: https://www.macleans.ca/rankings/2021-federal-election-platform-guide/

• Radio-Canada: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/info/2021/elections-federales/comparateur-programmes-plateformes-partis-politiques-promesses-enjeux/

• Le Devoir: https://www.ledevoir.com/documents/special/2021-09-analyse-promesses-electorales/index.html