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The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador has reached an agreement on funding for a new Canadian Health Accord.
The agreement will see targeted funding over ten years for investments in home care and mental health. The province was joined by Nova Scotia in the announcement.
The federal government will support better home care, including addressing critical home care infrastructure requirements, by providing Newfoundland and Labrador with $87.7 million and Nova Scotia with $157 million.
Over the same period, it will support mental-health initiatives with new funding of $73 million for Newfoundland and Labrador and $130.8 million for Nova Scotia.
Ottawa had previously offered the provinces to increase health transfer payments by 3.5 per cent annually and spend another $11.5 billion over 10 years in targeted funding, primarily for home care and mental health.
“During the course of our conversations with the federal government we have focused on getting recognition with regards to our specific needs surrounding senior care and mental health,” Premier Dwight Ball said in a news release Friday. “These investments demonstrate that the federal government recognizes the specific cost pressures that the aging population and mental health place on our province.”
The new funding agreement between the province and Ottawa is consistent with the federal transfers offered to provincial and territorial governments on Dec. 19, the news release stated.
“It is important for me to state that if any other province or territory reaches an agreement with the Federal government that includes better financial terms, our province will have those terms applied to us as well,” Ball said.
Agencies/Canadajournal
