May 21, 2024 | Newfoundland and Labrador | Health Canada

All seniors in Canada deserve to age in dignity, safety and comfort, regardless of where they live. That’s why the Government of Canada is investing nearly $200 billion over 10 years, including $5.4 billion in tailored bilateral agreements with provinces and territories to enable aging with dignity.

Today, the Honorable Seamus O’Regan Jr., Minister of Labor and Seniors, on behalf of the Honorable Mark Holland, Canada’s Minister of Health, and the Honorable Tom Osborne, Minister of Health and Community Services of Newfoundland and Labrador, announced a bilateral agreement to invest $78 million over the next five years to help Newfoundland and Labrador residents age gracefully. This funding follows the nearly $256 million bilateral agreement with the province announced in March 2024.

The federal funding will support Newfoundland and Labrador’s five-year action plan to improve health care for seniors. This plan includes the following elements:

• Improving home and community care systems
  • Hire additional clinical staff to improve access to care and support.
  • Leverage technology for new service delivery models and implement initiatives to provide rapid access to home care and support services, medications and medical devices based on clinically identified needs.
  • Supporting people with dementia through new community care options and additional training.
  • Increase opportunities for restorative and rehabilitative care within the community.
• Improving palliative and end-of-life care
  • Support a new 10-bed community hospice center in Grand Falls-Windsor.
  • Improve access to end-of-life support and services for people living at home.
  • Improve palliative and end-of-life care by providing more training and education opportunities for care providers.
• Strengthen staff
  • Establish a geriatric medicine fellowship at Memorial University.
  • Fund raises for more than 1,500 personal care workers employed in nursing homes and strengthen healthcare recruitment and retention initiatives.
  • Support training to improve health care outcomes and promote independence and well-being.
• Improving the quality of care and quality of life through better standards in long-term care
  • Ensure long-term care facility standards are consistent with national standards.
  • Improve the quality of life and quality of care as well as the work-life balance of staff.
  • Implement a person-centered approach to care through social and recreational programs, access to behavior management specialists, and training in caring for people with advanced dementia.

Progress on these large-scale initiatives and commitments will be measured against the goals that Newfoundland and Labrador publicly announce annually.

Under this new agreement and the agreement Collaboratesigned in March 2024, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador will work with the Government of Canada to improve the way health information is collected, shared, used and communicated; simplify the recognition of foreign qualifications for internationally trained health professionals; facilitate the mobility of key health professionals in Canada; and assume shared responsibility to ensure respect Canadian Health Act Protect Canadians’ access to health care based on their needs, not their ability to pay.

Recognizing the significant gaps in Indigenous health outcomes, the Governments of Canada and Newfoundland and Labrador are also committed to working meaningfully with their Indigenous partners to improve access to high-quality, culturally-adapted health services. Newfoundland and Labrador’s action plan is based on the continued commitment of its Indigenous partners and builds on recent trilateral discussions involving the federal government. All levels of government, within their respective jurisdictions, will make health-related decisions in a manner that promotes respect and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and the federal government will continue to work together to improve health services and achieve outcomes for seniors in the province, including meeting the needs of rural, remote and Indigenous communities and other underserved or disadvantaged populations.