Name: Federal budget doesn’t include new money for pharmacare expansion
Uploaded: 2025-11-08T04:25:28.139Z
Duration: 2 min 11 s
Description: No additional money was earmarked for pharmacare programs in the 2025 federal budget and about 60 percent of the $1.5 billion over five years previously committed is already spoken for with only three provinces and one territory signed on to the plan.

No additional money was earmarked for pharmacare programs in the 2025 federal budget and about 60 percent of the $1.5 billion over five years previously committed is already spoken for with only three provinces and one territory signed on to the plan.

Ottawa

The recent federal budget did not include new funding for the expansion of the national pharmacare program, despite previous promises to provide free contraceptive and diabetes medications for all Canadians. While British Columbia, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, and Yukon have joined the plan, no new agreements have been reached since the last federal election, and more than half of the $1.5 billion previously allocated is already committed.

The budget document mentions pharmacare only once, with a vague commitment to protect the program, and ongoing discussions with provinces and territories are reported but without concrete progress. Some Canadians, including diabetics, continue to face high out-of-pocket costs for medication, and provinces such as Nova Scotia are still waiting for a federal response to resume negotiations.

Federal budget doesn’t include new money for pharmacare expansion

The Liberals have yet to follow through on their Pharmacare promise. One from the previous Trudeau government to make contraceptive and diabetes drugs free for all Canadians. BC, Manitoba, PEI and Yukon have all signed on to the Pharmacare plan. But since the federal election no more deals have been announced. There's now a huge disparity in Canadians' ability to access life-saving and life-changing medicine and that's fundamentally unacceptable. More than half of the 1.5 billion dollars set aside last year to pay for those drugs is already spoken for. This week's federal budget came with no new money. A sign an expansion may not be coming anytime soon. It's concerning for diabetics like Roger Cook who pays hundreds of dollars a month for his medication. It's very alarming for those people that don't have those readily available options and that they're not able to maybe and they're banking on it and you know it's rent money for them. The nearly 500-page budget only mentions Pharmacare once where the Liberals promised to protect it. What that means is unclear. Ottawa passed Pharmacare legislation over a year ago. Everyone feels like they're kicking the can down the road. It's a drug plan fought for by the NDP as part of that party's agreement to support the Trudeau government. We've asked the minister repeatedly and they say they're committed to Pharmacare but there's still no action on any new deals. It's been months. As you saw in the budget we protected the Pharmacare agreement that we have and for now I'm continuing conversation with provinces and territories on next step. So not for today but I'm still continuing conversation. But are those conversations happening in earnest? Nova Scotia said five months ago it wanted to restart talks to get a Pharmacare deal but a spokesperson for that province's health department says they're still waiting to hear from the federal government. Marina von Stackelberg, CBC News, Ottawa.

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