Posted: 03-30-2023
News Release
Ottawa, ON, March 30, 2023
The Health Charities Coalition of Canada (HCCC) acknowledges the federal government commitment to improving the health of Canadians through important investments made towards enhancing Canada’s public health system while failing to address key recommendations for strengthening the charitable sector.
Budget 2023, A Made-in-Canada Plan: Strong Middle Class, Affordable Economy, Healthy Future, highlighted that, “A strong and effective public health care system is essential to the well-being of Canadians—and is an important foundation of a growing, healthy economy. When people are healthy and can get the care they need before complications arise; when people don’t have to worry about losing health care when they move jobs, and don’t have to miss work and slow down their careers because they can’t receive the proper treatment—it makes our economy stronger”.[1] We echo this perspective and believe that all Canadians should have equitable access to quality health care to help meet their primary, acute, mental health, chronic and palliative care needs, and to improve their quality of life based on the best possible health outcomes rather than the ability to pay.
“Investments made in reinforcing public health systems across the country are needed to fill the unmet health needs of Canadians and are an important step in addressing the gaps that have been created” says Kelly Grover, Chair of the Health Charities Coalition of Canada and CEO of Cystic Fibrosis of Canada. “We continue to call on our intergovernmental leaders to work together to implement programs and services and increase capacity in our health care system”.
While progress is being made in addressing access to care, Canada must do more to protect and prevent further losses in vital health research which is critical to unlocking new approaches to disease treatment and management. Immediate and sustained investments are needed in health research so that as a nation we can advance the health of Canadians and protect from future health crises.
Along with investments to the health system, we welcome key investments towards the modernization of Canada’s health data system. “Optimizing health care data to better inform care decisions that support better patient outcomes is a goal that we are striving to achieve” said Connie Côté, CEO of HCCC. Additionally, we were pleased to see the Government of Canada’s ongoing leadership and commitment to supporting the engagement and inclusion of Canadians living with a disability as we work towards implementing a robust Disability Inclusion Action Plan.
We are disappointed that Budget 2023 did not respond to recommendations to work with the charitable sector in meeting the current and growing demand and enable a more sustainable funding environment. Health charities are an integral part of the social fabric of Canada, providing support, information and funding valuable health research.
HCCC members look forward to integrating the perspectives of patients and the health charity sector as we work with the Federal Government and the other agencies to implement these investments and address gaps in our system.
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[1] Department of Finance Canada. (2023). Budget 2023, A Made-in-Canada Plan: Strong Middle Class, Affordable Economy, Healthy Future. www.Canada.ca/Budget