The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador agreed to new targeted federal funding over 10 years for investments in home care and mental health care. The province joined with Nova Scotia in announcing an accord with the Government of Canada to support change and deliver improved health care for Canadians in these priority areas.
Over the next 10 years, the Federal Government will support home care and mental health initiatives in Newfoundland and Labrador through combined funding of $160.7 million ($87.7 million for home care and $73 million for mental health initiatives). This funding will start flowing to the province as of April 1, 2017.
In the coming weeks, the Federal and Provincial Governments will develop performance indicators and mechanisms for annual reporting to citizens, as well as a detailed plan on how these funds will be spent, over and above existing programs. Newfoundland and Labrador and the Federal Government will work out the details of accountability and reporting, consistent with the pan-Canadian approach envisaged in the federal funding offer of December 19, 2016.
The targeted investments in home care and mental health care are in addition to the existing legislated commitments through the Canada Health Transfer (CHT), which will continue to grow into the future. This new funding agreement is consistent with the federal investments offered to provincial and territorial governments on December 19. It would be amended to reflect legislated changes to the CHT in the event of a pan-Canadian agreement consistent with the previous federal offer.