OTTAWA — Federal Health Minister Marjorie Michel says her government is not bound to follow the newly released expert committee recommendations outlining a path toward a national pharmacare system. Speaking in Montreal on Monday, Michel confirmed the government is reviewing the report delivered last month but stressed that expert advice is “non-binding.”
The advisory committee’s report, released publicly on Friday, calls for Ottawa to create an essential medicines list and fully fund those medications so Canadians can access them at no cost using their health cards. The panel argued that a universal model would avoid the complications of negotiating individual agreements with each province and territory.
Michel signaled skepticism toward a single-payer federal model, pointing out that health care delivery falls under provincial and territorial jurisdiction. She emphasized the need to continue negotiations with those governments to strengthen partnerships and improve health outcomes rather than impose a centralized structure.
The committee was formed last year after the previous minority Liberal government, under a supply-and-confidence agreement with the NDP, passed the Pharmacare Act requiring the creation of a national, universal pharmacare framework. The report recommends sustainable federal funding for provinces and territories to cover the cost of drugs on the essential medicines list and calls for new legislation recognizing access to essential medicines as a human right.
Dr. Eric Hoskins, who authored a 2019 pharmacare report, said the new recommendations provide “a very clear path” to implementation and argued that a cooperative approach with provinces could achieve the same goals. He noted that although the government is focused on major priorities such as national defence, pharmacare remains a vital national project requiring political will.
The expert committee estimated the cost of implementing an essential medicines list at $6 to $10 billion annually, offset by savings on drug prices. Chair Dr. Navindra Persaud projected a net additional cost of roughly $3 billion per year.
Despite these recommendations, the most recent federal budget did not allocate new funding for pharmacare, deepening doubts about the government’s long-term commitment. Since the April election, neither Prime Minister Mark Carney nor Minister Michel has committed to expanding pharmacare beyond existing bilateral agreements, instead framing their goals as “protecting” the program.
The Pharmacare Act required Ottawa to negotiate with provinces to cover diabetes medications and contraceptives, and since its introduction, four jurisdictions have signed bilateral deals. More than 60 per cent of the initially budgeted $1.5 billion has already been allocated to those agreements.
Committee member and Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions president Linda Silas criticized the bilateral approach, noting past shortcomings and urging swift federal action. She said the recommendations provide everything the government needs to launch a national program immediately without new legislation or additional bilateral deals. After nearly three decades lobbying for pharmacare, Silas expressed disappointment that another election may come before any concrete action is taken.