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Strengthen health research and innovation
Federal investment in health research pales in comparison to what is invested in many other OECD countries. Canada’s jurisdictional divides and regulatory landscape discourage partnerships and global investment. This greatly hinders Canada’s ability to attract and retain top talent, undermines the ability of Canadian researchers to make the discoveries that drive healthcare improvement, and limits the full economic potential of Canada’s health research and innovation sector.
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strengthening health research and innovation matters
Support better aging
Canada must develop a pan-Canadian approach to improve health and social services for older adults, ensuring they align with their needs and wishes. This means shifting to more home and community care to allow people to age in place, implementing national standards for long-term care, and supporting improvements across the continuum of older adult care through sustainable federal investment.
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supporting better aging matters
Modernize health infrastructure
COVID-19 highlighted the pitfalls of outdated health infrastructure and underscored that health facilities built half a century ago no longer serve Canada’s needs in 2021. It also required healthcare providers to adapt the way they provide care and revealed that the benefits of taking healthcare digital far outweigh any drawbacks. The federal government must better support health sector infrastructure, including digital infrastructure and cybersecurity, to streamline the health system, support virtual care, improve access, and facilitate the safe sharing of health information for both research and patient care purposes.
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modernizing our health infrastructure matters
Build a more inclusive, equitable and resilient health system.
Canada does not have enough healthcare workers to meet present, let alone future, demand on the health system. Healthcare is a people business and Canada urgently needs to take a pan-Canadian approach to health human resources planning. This includes identifying and implementing short-term solutions to immediately support healthcare workers, and establishing a health workforce agency to conduct strategic data gathering and research for long-term planning.
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building a more inclusive health system matters
Emerging Stronger: HealthCareCAN calls to action leading up to the 2021 federal election
In the lead up to the 2021 federal election, HealthCareCAN pressed party leaders to provide Canadians with concrete ideas and actions in their platforms to shore up our health system and help our health research sector realize its full potential. To support them in their development of these platforms, HealthCareCAN recommended that party leaders commit to:
- Ramping up Canadian health research and biosciences through consistent, long-term investment.
- Reimagining older adult care through improved home, community and long-term care services.
- Building a national health workforce planning strategy.
- Modernizing Canada’s health infrastructure to better support virtual care and tackle climate change.
- Increasing federal health transfers to provinces and territories to improve access to critically needed services such as mental health care and supports for children and adults.
Canadians agree: The federal government should play a bigger role in healthcare.
The poll, conducted between November 26 and December 1, 2020 by Abacus Data on behalf of HealthCareCAN, found that while Canadians had confidence in the quality of care provided by the healthcare system, they have growing concerns about infrastructure capacity within system, specifically…
Recent Activities
Read HealthCareCAN's submission to the Standing Committee on Health for its study on the emergency situation facing Canadians in light of the COVID-19 pandemic
May 17, 2022
HealthCareCAN advocates for key system-level changes to substantially improve health services to children and youth.
April 12, 2022
HealthCareCAN and Covenant Health advocate for federal action to address Canada's health human resources challenges during appearance before Standing Committee on Health.
February 16, 2022
Critics stress health system capacity constraints as Trudeau speaks with premiers - Interview with HealthCareCAN
January 10, 2022