Holdout provinces urged to reach health funding deals to prioritize patients
OTTAWA — Mental health advocates want holdout provinces to end their funding standoff with Ottawa and strike deals to ensure struggling patients have access to critical front-line services.
Louise Bradley, president of the Mental Health Commission of Canada, is cheering those provinces, including Saskatchewan, that signed bilateral deals with the federal government identifying mental health as a funding priority.
On Tuesday, Saskatchewan signed on for annual health transfer payment increases of either three per cent or the three-year moving average of nominal GDP growth, whichever proves higher.
The deal also included an additional $348.8 million over 10 years for investments in home and mental-health care.