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441-00544 (Health)

Paper petition

Original language of petition: English

Petition to the House of Commons

We, the undersigned Citizens of Canada, draw the attention of the House of Commons to the following:

WHEREAS, one-in-five Canadians - close to 7.5 million people - either has no prescription drug coverage at all, inadequate insurance to cover their medication needs or effectively has no coverage due to high deductibles and co-payments to cover their costs;

WHEREAS, over 2 million Canadians fail to take their medication as prescribed because they can't afford the cost; a recent report from the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions estimated that this tragic situation results in hundreds of preventable deaths in Canada every year;

WHEREAS, Canadians consistently pay among the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs due to our current patchwork of more than 100 public and 100,000 private insurance plans; prescription drugs represent the second largest category of spending in Canadian health care, surpassing spending on physician services - only hospitals cost more;

WHEREAS, universal public drug coverage has been recommended by national commissions, federal committees, and advisory councils dating as far back as the 1940s; most recently, the Hoskins Advisory Council concluded that we could extend comprehensive prescription drug coverage to every Canadian, while saving $5 billion per year once fully implemented;

WHEREAS, the Hoskins report was clear that implementing pharmacare will require sustained federal leadership, along with “long-term, adequate, secure and flexible” funding. In particular, the report calls for the federal government to cover any added costs the provinces and territories incur from the implementation of pharmacare;

WHEREAS, according to the Hoskins report, pharmacare would reduce overall spending on prescription drugs in Canada by $5 billion per year; Businesses and employees would see their prescription drug costs reduced by $16.6 billion annually, while families will see their out of pocket drug costs reduced by $6.4 billion;

WHEREAS, to establish universal pharmacare across Canada, Parliament must pass enabling legislation and the federal government must negotiate transfers with the provinces and territories.

WHEREAS, like the Canadian Health Act, Bill C-213 lays out the conditions and criteria that provinces and territories must meet in order to receive federal funding under the program and includes things like tying federal funding to the core principles of public administration, comprehensiveness, universality, portability, and accessibility.

THEREFORE, your petitioners call on the Government of Canada to support Bill C-213, An Act to Enact the Canada Pharmacare Act, legislation that would create a universal, comprehensive and public pharmacare program for all Canadians and follows the recommendations set out by the Hoskins Advisory Council.

Response by the Minister of Health

Signed by (Minister or Parliamentary Secretary): ADAM VAN KOEVERDEN

No Canadian should have to choose between paying for prescription drugs and putting food on the table. Unfortunately, many are still forced to make this impossible decision. That is why our government continues to work with provinces, territories and stakeholders to ensure that Canadians have better access to the drugs they need.

Budget 2022 announced that the federal government will continue its ongoing work towards a universal national pharmacare program. This will include tabling a Canada Pharmacare billand working to have it passed by the end of 2023, and then tasking the Canadian Drug Agency to develop a national formulary of essential medicines and bulk purchasing plan.

On August 11, 2021, the Government of Canada announced the signing of the first agreement with the Government of Prince Edward Island (PEI) to inform the advancement of national universal pharmacare. Through this agreement, PEI will receive $35 million over four years in federal funding, to add new drugs to its list of covered drugs, and lower out-of-pocket costs for drugs covered under existing public plans for Island residents. Our government will use early lessons from PEI’s efforts to inform its ongoing work to advance national universal pharmacare. This agreement will also build on the foundational steps that are already in progress, including establishing a national strategy for drugs for rare diseases, a Canadian Drug Agency and a national formulary.

Budget 2019 proposed to invest up to $1 billion over two years, starting in 2022-2023, with up to $500 million per year ongoing, to help Canadians with rare diseases access the drugs they need. We recognize that for many Canadians who require prescription drugs to treat rare diseases, the cost of these medications can be astronomically high.

To support the development of a national strategy for drugs for rare diseases, a public and stakeholder engagement process was conducted in early 2021 and a What We Heard report summarizing key themes and feedback that emerged has been published on the engagement webpage here. Building on this engagement, Health Canada hosted targeted roundtables with stakeholders throughout April and May 2022 to help continue to inform the development of the framework for the national strategy. Our government is working to launch the national strategy for drugs for rare diseases in 2022 with the support of all those involved.

Launched in 2021, the Canadian Drug Agency Transition Office (CDATO) is overseeing the creation of the Canadian Drug Agency (CDA) based on engagement with provinces, territories, and stakeholders. The Transition Office is providing dedicated capacity and leadership to develop a plan to establish the CDA in order to improve pharmaceutical system coordination and bolster related functions. Budget 2019 provided Health Canada with $35 million over four years, starting in 2019–20, to establish the CDATO.

Work is also underway with partners to develop a national formulary. A national formulary would provide a comprehensive, evidence-based list of prescribed drugs and related products to support consistent patient access to treatments across the country. In July 2021, an arms-length organization, the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH), established a multidisciplinary national panel to develop a draft formulary framework. Following broad consultations this past winter, the panel released its final report in June 2022. The panel’s proposed framework provides a roadmap for the development of a future national formulary that would include a broad range of safe, effective, evidence-based drugs and related products to meet the health care needs of Canada’s diverse population. More information is available on the CADTH website here.

Presented to the House of Commons
Peter Julian (New Westminster—Burnaby)
June 7, 2022 (Petition No. 441-00544)
Government response tabled
August 17, 2022
Photo - Peter Julian
New Westminster—Burnaby
New Democratic Party Caucus
British Columbia

Only validated signatures are counted towards the total number of signatures.