Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says there is still “much work to be done” to reach an agreement with the provinces to increase the transfers they receive from Ottawa to cover some of the costs of their public health systems.

The official-elect made the comments Tuesday on the sidelines of a local funding announcement in Prince Edward Island.

Multiple media outlets have reported since Monday that a deal is within reach. The CTV network reported that Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe had that impression. For its part, Radio-Canada wrote that the provincial and territorial ministers have gone so far as to plan an upcoming meeting in Ottawa to which they would like to invite their federal counterparts. Justin Trudeau.

“Yes, we are all looking forward to a final agreement, at some point, but we are all very aware that there is still a lot to do to get there,” Duclos said on Tuesday when asked by a journalist about a possible agreement.

The “results” to be achieved.

Jean-Yves Duclos also reiterated that discussions focused, among other things, on ways to achieve “outcomes” to improve healthcare systems across the country. In particular, he mentioned a desire to reduce waiting times for care and to overcome the problems of retaining and recruiting professionals.

“A lot of work is still needed before we can agree on the meaning of these results and the ways to achieve them,” added the Federal Minister.

Prime Minister Trudeau, asked to clarify Mr Duclos’ comments on the possible forthcoming deal, said he was “happy” that the latter “notes there is still a long way to go”.

“Because there are [du travail à accomplir]but I am also very pleased to say that I am confident that we are on the right track, because the Prime Ministers [provinciaux et territoriaux] I heard the same things I did,” he said, while answering questions from reporters in Windsor, Ontario.

In recent months Prime Minister Trudeau has argued that pumping more money into healthcare systems is not enough, saying improvements are needed to ensure Canadians have access to better services.

In an interview with The Canadian Press ahead of the holiday season, he stated that it was “perfectly reasonable” to call for results to come after the additional sums expected by the federal government, because his government says that’s what Canadians expect. He added that when the federal government makes health transfers, “it is [avec] the taxpayers’ money.

To see in the video