October 16, 2025
RED FM News Desk
Federal, provincial, and territorial health ministers have gathered in Calgary for two days of meetings focused on health-care funding, credential recognition, and workforce challenges.
The office of federal Health Minister Marjorie Michel said discussions will also address mental health and addictions, as well as vaccination programs.
“The health ministers’ meeting will build on the renewed collaboration between the federal government, and provinces and territories to protect Canada’s health-care system,” Michel’s office said in a statement.
Alberta’s Minister of Primary and Preventative Health Services, Adriana LaGrange, is co-chairing the meetings alongside Michel and is expected to hold a joint news conference with her counterparts Thursday afternoon.
LaGrange’s office said Alberta is pushing for stronger federal commitments to existing funding programs and solutions to address health-care worker shortages. She is also seeking a “fair share” of federal pharmacare funding for Alberta—without requiring the province to sign onto the national program.
So far, three provinces and one territory have joined Ottawa’s pharmacare plan, which covers contraceptives and diabetes medications. LaGrange has maintained that Alberta’s current coverage is sufficient and that additional federal dollars should be used to enhance provincial programs instead.
During their time in Calgary, the ministers will also meet with national doctors and nurses associations, who are calling for greater cooperation across governments to recruit and retain health-care workers and stabilize the strained system.
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