Photo: Sean Kilpatrick The Canadian Press Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith in Ottawa on February 7.
Alberta on Monday became the seventh province to reach a tentative agreement with Ottawa on health care funding.
The federal government announced in a statement Monday that more than $24 billion will be invested in Alberta's health care system over the next ten years.
This includes $2.9 billion for a new bilateral agreement focused on shared health priorities and $233 million for an immediate, one-time top-up to the Canada Health Transfer to address “urgent needs”.
These urgent needs include support for children's hospitals and emergency rooms, as well as addressing long wait times for surgeries.
The bilateral agreement also aims to improve access to family health services, including in rural and remote areas and in underserved communities.
Other goals include promoting a “resilient and supported” healthcare workforce in the system, improving mental health and addictions services, and providing access to information on the health of Albertans.
Alberta joins the four Atlantic provinces, Ontario and Manitoba, which all signed a bilateral agreement with Ottawa last week.
These agreements in principle are a first step towards realizing the comprehensive 10-year, $196 billion health care funding proposal that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau presented to the provinces on February 7 in Ottawa.< /p>
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith called this first step “productive”. “I look forward to continuing discussions with the Government of Canada on how we can secure longer-term sustainable funding,” Ms. Smith added in a written statement.
