Government & Policy

ST. JOHN’S – Newfoundland and Labrador will spend more than $450,000 to help bring state-of-the-art medical equipment to Memorial University. It will be used to buy an Orbitrap Mass Spectrometry system, allowing students to explore the potential causes of chronic diseases such as osteoarthritis, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, Alzheimer’s and Multiple Sclerosis. Read More

OTTAWA – Mark Holland (pictured), minister of Health, has introduced Bill C-72, the Connected Care for Canadians Act. This Act is about enabling Canadians to securely access their own health data, which will empower patient’s decision-making and improve the care they receive from health providers in Canada. Read More

EDMONTON – The Alberta government says it’s taking steps to improve the health of women and children by following through on a promise to spend $26 million on research and expanding a newborn screening program. In this year’s budget it earmarked $10 million over two years to create the Alberta Women’s Health Foundation Legacy Grant, to support research on health conditions such as cervical cancer, cardiovascular disease and other illnesses that disproportionately affect women. Read More

QUEBEC CITY – The head of Santé Québec will be Geneviève Biron (pictured), who led private provider Biron Health Group from 2014 to 2021, Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé announced this week. Dubé also announced that Frédéric Abergel, head of the Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM), will serve as executive vice-president of operations and transformation for the agency. Read More

MONTREAL – A new MEI-Ipsos poll says 50 percent of Canadians are dissatisfied with their provincial healthcare systems. That feeling runs highest in the Atlantic provinces, where two in three people are dissatisfied, according to the study. The poll also found nearly six in 10 Canadians think the rate of growth of public healthcare spending is unsustainable, while only a quarter think the increase in health spending over the past decade had a positive impact. Read More

VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is bringing in new digital tools to help hundreds of thousands of residents who need a family doctor find one faster and easier. Starting April 17, the province will introduce digital tools within the “attachment system” and add 70 so-called attachment co-ordinators to use those tools to make it faster and easier for those in need to find a doctor or nurse practitioner. Read More

REGINA – Saskatchewan says it’s “deeply disappointed” in the federal government’s decision to claw back $1 million in funding related to medical imaging services in Saskatchewan. On March 21, federal minister of Health Mark Holland announced mandatory Canada Health Transfer deductions for some provinces for 2021 to 2022. Read More

OTTAWA – The Liberal government is setting aside $2.4 billion in its upcoming budget to build capacity in artificial intelligence, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (pictured) announced. The bulk of that – $2 billion – is going into a fund that will aim to provide access to computing capabilities and technical infrastructure. Read More

EDMONTON – Alberta premier Danielle Smith (pictured) said the province will introduce legislation this spring to create a new governing organization, called Recovery Alberta, to be the new provincial health agency responsible for delivering mental health and addiction services. Smith said the new system, if passed, will be implemented by July 1. Read More