OTTAWA, September 27, 2024

In Canada, every person should have access to health services where and when they need them, in the official language of their choice. The quality of communication with a health care provider can have a direct impact on safety and quality of care.

Today, the Honourable Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages, and the Honourable Mark Holland, Minister of Health, announced nearly $2.5 million in assistance over five years (2023–24 to 2027–28) to the Government of Yukon for a special project aimed at improving access to French-language health services.

Specifically, Canadian Heritage is contributing $1.5 million while Health Canada is contributing $746,317. The Government of Yukon is contributing $250,000 to the project.

Entitled “Leveraging technology to increase access to health care services in French in the Yukon,” this five-year project aims to increase access to French-language health services and optimize their delivery in the following ways:

• Establishing a data collection strategy to gather healthcare information to determine patients’ preferred language of service. This will support the planning and allocation of bilingual human resources.
• Creating a digital solutions strategy to implement innovative digital tools to increase access to French-language health services that meet the needs of French-speaking Yukoners.

With the contributions from the federal and territorial governments, the Government of Yukon’s French Language Services Directorate will carry out this project in close collaboration with the Government of Yukon’s Department of Health and Social Services.

This initiative is part of the Canada–Yukon French-Language Services Agreement 2020–2021 to 2024–2025.