Trudeau touts ‘real progress’ on pharmacare, calls on premiers to start cutting deals

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is calling on provinces and territories to start negotiating pharmacare deals as soon as possible, now that the federal legislation to enact the program has become law.

“This is real progress, but now we need the provinces and territories to come to the table and sign agreements with us that supports Canadians and takes pressure off their household budgets as soon as possible,” Trudeau told reporters on Friday as he wrapped a visit to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit in Laos.

That legislation was central to the now-defunct political pact between the Liberals and the NDP, who pushed hard for the bill to be introduced. On Thursday, NDP health critic Peter Julian pointed out that Canada is the only country with a universal health care system that does not include universal coverage for prescription drugs.

The bill was passed by the Senate without amendments on Thursday evening and received royal assent shortly after.

The legislation will inform the creation of any future universal pharmacare plan.

In the immediate term, it paves the way for the federal government to sign deals with provinces and territories to cover diabetes and birth-control medications as part of the public health system.

Trudeau said the program will help people who are struggling to pay for prescriptions, and said his government “not only (believes) in a woman’s right to choose, we act on it.”

The federal health minister has said he hopes to have all provinces and territories on board by next spring. B.C. has already signed a memorandum of understanding to provide coverage.

The law also calls for the government to convene an expert panel within the next month to investigate the next steps in establishing a full-fledged pharmacare program.

That committee will report its recommendations to the health minister within a year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.