Category: Health

October 7, 2026 | Ottawa, ON | Health Canada

Today, the Honourable Marjorie Michel, Minister of Health, and the Honourable Sylvia Jones, Ontario Minister of Health, announced more than $31 million in federal funding for six projects that will make it faster and easier for internationally educated health professionals to join Canada’s health workforce. This includes $20 million to support the creation of 50 additional positions per year, over four years, for internationally educated family physicians in the Government of Ontario’s Practice Ready Ontario (PRO) program. This will result in up to 200 new family physicians ready to work in the province by 2028-29. A key focus of the program will be to improve access to primary care in underserved northern and rural regions, as well as Francophone communities in Ontario, with a specific stream for French-speaking internationally educated family physicians.

Integrating internationally educated health professionals is critical to addressing the shortage of health care workers across the country, including family physicians and nurses. These professionals possess valuable skills and experiences, but they can face obstacles to entering the health workforce in Canada, such as lengthy, costly, and complicated credential recognition processes.

The funding will also support five other projects across Canada that will provide enhanced resources and practical tools to help internationally educated physicians, nurses, occupational therapists and physiotherapists navigate provincial and territorial licensing requirements and prepare to work in the Canadian health sector.

This investment is part of the concrete, coordinated actions the Government of Canada and its partners are taking to strengthen and expand the health workforce, delivering more timely, reliable access to high-quality health care services for everyone in Canada. 

October 5, 2026 | Ottawa, Ontario | Health Canada

Canadians deserve timely access to high-quality health care, no matter where they live. 

That’s why today, the Honourable Marjorie Michel, Minister of Health, the Honourable Rebecca Alty, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Member of Parliament for the Northwest Territories, and the Honourable Lucy Kuptana, Northwest Territories Minister of Health and Social Services, announced funding to build and renew health infrastructure while improving access to health care across the territory. 

To that end, the Working Together bilateral agreement will be renewed, investing $51.2 million over seven years to improve access to quality health care in the Northwest Territories. This marks the first announcement in a series of renewed Working Together bilateral agreements with provinces and territories. 

Through this renewed federal investment, the Northwest Territories will advance ongoing priorities outlined in a new four-year action plan, including:

• strengthening its public health service capacity to improve coordination, including in integrated primary health care teams to help residents access the right care at the right time;
• growing and retaining the health workforce through physician training, supporting recruitment and retention, and investing in cultural safety training; 
• strengthening mental health and substance use services through continued support for specialized treatment, medical detox services and community-based supports; and, 
• supporting culturally appropriate mental wellness and suicide prevention programs, including by supporting community organizations that deliver community-led services and engaging with Indigenous Governments and organizations. 

The renewed agreement builds on measurable progress already achieved under the initial bilateral agreement (2023-24 – 2025-26). Since then, the Northwest Territories has:

• strengthened the health workforce by reducing staff vacancies by 29%, helping more people get the care they need; 
• expanded access to suicide-prevention services through the funding of 10 Indigenous governments and non-government organizations under the Community Suicide Prevention Fund; 
• increased access to substance use services through the funding of the Territorial Addictions Medicine Program, which supports treatment for residents with Opioid Use disorder, alcohol withdrawal and complex polysubstance use; and, 
• reduced barriers to rural and remote primary care in the north by offering two training slots per year for its Family Medicine Residency Program. 

The territory will continue to publicly report each year on progress toward agreed-upon targets, ensuring Canadians can track how these investments are improving access to care. The action plan continues to be informed by engagement with Indigenous partners to help improve access to culturally safe and appropriate care. 

Building on today’s renewal of the Working Together bilateral agreement, the ministers also announced investments of more than $70.2 million from the Government of Canada and $23.4 million from the Government of the Northwest Territories for 16 health infrastructure projects through the Provincial and Territorial stream of the Build Communities Strong Fund.

These investments will support construction or rehabilitation of health facilities in 12 Northwest Territories communities. The projects will help provide essential health and social services to the people across these communities.

The Build Communities Strong Fund is a cornerstone of the Government of Canada’s plan to build the infrastructure needed to build Canada strong for all – today and for generations to come.

Together, the Government of Canada and the Northwest Territories are delivering practical improvements that strengthen health care, support healthier communities and help build a stronger economy. 

October 2, 2026 | Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island | Health Canada

As populations and the cost of drugs continue to grow, the Government of Canada and Prince Edward Island (PEI) are working together to make it easier for Islanders to access the prescription medications they need, while helping to reduce the cost of living.

Today, the Honourable Heath MacDonald, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, on behalf of the Honourable Marjorie Michel, Canada’s Minister of Health, the Honourable Premier of PEI, Rob Lantz, and the Honourable Cory Deagle, Minister of Health and Wellness for PEI, announced the government intention to invest over $32 million over three years to support the Improving Affordable Access to Prescription Drugs Program (IAAPD) in PEI.

The IAAPD program, launched in 2021, has funded targeted reforms to PEI’s public drug programs. PEI received $35 million (2021-22 to 2025-26) to expand its public formulary (list of publicly covered drugs) to broaden treatment options for Islanders and better align with public drug plans in other provinces and territories, lower out-of-pocket costs for residents, and gather insights and lessons learned. As of March 2025, the IAAPD has saved Islanders $13.8 million.

Extending the IAAPD will  allow PEI to maintain the improvements it has made to its public drug coverage system and help reduce the cost of living for its residents.