April 19, 2021, Ottawa – HealthCareCAN, the national voice of Canada’s healthcare and health research institutions, welcomed new federal funding announced in today’s budget as important investments to support Canadian healthcare and health research.
“HealthCareCAN is very pleased that the federal government has heeded our call for greater support for Canada’s biomanufacturing and life sciences sector, a sector critical to Canada’s economic recovery plan,” said HealthCareCAN President and CEO, Paul-Émile Cloutier. Specific investments in Budget 2021 include:
- $1 billion over seven years through the Strategic Innovation Fund targeting promising domestic life sciences and bio-manufacturing firms.
- $500 million over four years for the Canada Foundation for Innovation to support the bio-science capital and infrastructure needs of post-secondary institutions and research hospitals.
- $250 million over four years for the federal research granting councils to create a new tri-council biomedical research fund.
- $250 million over three years to increase clinical research capacity through a new Canadian Institutes of Health Research Clinical Trials Fund.
- $59.2 million over three years for the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization to support the development of its vaccine candidates and expand its facility in Saskatoon.
- $50 million over five years to create a life sciences stream in the Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative.
- $45 million over three years to the Stem Cell Network to support stem cell and regenerative medicine research.
While HealthCareCAN appreciates the overall $2.2 billion dedicated to boosting Canada’s biomedical and life sciences sector, it falls far short of the transformational investments needed to fully tap into our sector’s innovative and economic capabilities. Significant investment in the sector is needed to ensure that Canada remains competitive on the global stage, can attract and retain top talent and global investments, and can convert promising research into successful spin-off companies to support health and economic advances.
HealthCareCAN is also pleased to see $1 billion in federal funding for various mental health supports across program areas and we are hopeful that some of that support will get to frontline healthcare workers experiencing great stress and high workloads due to the COVID pandemic.
“The inclusion in today’s budget of $3 billion in financial support to support development of national standards for long-term care in Canada is urgently needed,” said Mr. Cloutier. “The COVID pandemic tragically highlighted the shortcomings of LTC in this country and this new federal investment sends a strong signal that the federal government is committed to helping rectify that situation.”
“Just as Canada is not yet out of the woods in terms of our battle against the insidious COVID pandemic, Budget 2021 does not address all of the challenges facing Canada’s healthcare system,” warned Mr. Cloutier. “HealthCareCAN and its members are eager to continue to work with the federal government to ensure our Academic Health Research hospital institutions will have access to funds announced today to advance healthcare and health research.”
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HealthCareCAN is the national voice of healthcare organizations and hospitals across Canada. We foster informed and continuous, results-oriented discovery and innovation across the continuum of healthcare.
For more information:
Alexandria Rowe, Communications and Member Services
ARowe@healthcarecan.ca — 855-236-0213/613-241-8005 ext. 221 │ Cell: 613-220-1023
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