Backgrounder
On March 25, 2021, the federal government introduced legislation to provide an additional $5 billion in direct support to provinces and territories for health care and vaccination roll-out.
The proposed funding includes a one-time payment of $4 billion through the Canada Health Transfer, distributed equally per capita, to help provinces and territories address immediate health care system pressures. This funding could be used for a variety of urgent needs, including clearing the backlog of medical procedures, patient care, and access to primary care put on hold due to the pandemic.
The legislation also includes a one-time payment of $1 billion, distributed equally per capita, to the provinces and territories to support and accelerate COVID-19 vaccine roll-out campaigns. This would help to ensure the provinces and territories have the capacity to rapidly distribute vaccines in their jurisdictions and keep pace with vaccination supply, so Canadians are vaccinated as quickly as possible.
