March 2025 saw a flurry of developments in Canada’s emerging national funding systems of drugs for rare diseases and pharmacare. All of Canada’s 13 provinces and territories have now reached bilateral agreements with the federal government to cover certain drugs
On February 27, 2025, the governments of Canada and of the Province of Manitoba announced the first-ever national pharmacare funding agreement. The two governments also announced a funding agreement under the National Strategy for Drugs for Rare Diseases.
2024 saw no shortage of headlines in the Canadian pharma space. Here we look back on the year’s most notable legal and regulatory developments and look forward to areas to watch in 2025.
In
Canada’s emerging national systems of pharmacare and public funding for drugs for rare diseases (DRDs) had key developments last week. On December 4, the Minister of Health (Minister) asked Canada’s Drug Agency-L’Agence des médicaments du Canada
On November 14, 2024, the Government of Canada announced the establishment of a Committee of Experts as the next step in its implementation of a national pharmacare program. The Committee is tasked with providing the Government with practical advice on
On October 10, 2024, Canada’s federal government passed legislation that will introduce pharmacare, a program of national universal drug coverage. The federal government must now take steps to implement the first phase of pharmacare, including reaching agreements with the provinces
On September 12, 2024, the Governments of Canada and of the Province of British Columbia (BC) announced partnering to provide universal access to contraception, diabetes medication, and hormone replacement therapy. The Canada-BC Memorandum of Understanding is the first
On February 29, 2024, the federal government tabled Bill C-64, An Act respecting pharmacare (the Pharmacare Act). The Pharmacare Act outlines the “foundational principles” for the first phase of a national universal drug coverage plan in Canada. The legislation