HCCC Response to Budget 2024

 Budget 2024 Boosts Investments in Research.

 The Health Charities Coalition of Canada welcomes new investments announced in Budget 2024 that will bring increased federal support for research. This is an important step in strengthening the Canadian health research ecosystem and our members look forward to working with the federal government in advancing health research in our country.

The investments of $1.8B over five years for Canada’s Research Granting Councils and $825M over five years to better support graduate students and postdoctoral fellows will help to secure a diverse, robust, and knowledge-based workforce. “These investments are critical in attracting and retaining researchers to advance science in Canada and ensure that our young researchers receive adequate support to continue to grow and contribute new knowledge” said Elizabeth Myles, Chair of the Health Charities Coalition of Canada, and National Executive Director of The Kidney Foundation of Canada.

This budget introduces a capstone research funding organization to advance internationally collaborative, multi-disciplinary, and mission-driven research as well as a new Advisory Council on Science and Innovation to guide priority setting and increase the impact of federal investments. As progress in made in uniting the work of the granting councils care must be taken to ensure that CIHR is accountable to the Minister of Health enabling the health research agenda to be linked with areas of need in the health system and better positioning research to be integrated within the health system. While the details of these announcements are being worked out, we look forward to working with the government to ensure the patient voice is heard and patients are meaningfully engaged at the decision-making table. 

“Federal announcements today will build much-needed momentum as they commit to long-term sustainable funding for health research investments, which includes investments from health charities,” said Connie Côté, CEO of the Health Charities Coalition of Canada. “We expect the investments today will lead to a stronger research environment in Canada, something that is long overdue for the country.”

In addition to the investments in research, HCCC is pleased to see a funding commitment of $1.5B towards the implementation of National Pharmacare and strongly encourages the government to include patients and people with lived experience in the ongoing development and further expansion of this program.

HCCC wishes to express concern with how changes to the AMT announced in Budget 2024 will impact donations made to the charitable sector and encourages the government to work with the not-for-profit sector to stimulate charitable giving in our country.

Members of the Health Charities Coalition of Canada look forward to integrating the perspectives of patients and the health charity sector as we work with the Federal Government to implement these investments.

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About Health Charities Coalition of Canada
Founded in 2000, the Health Charities Coalition of Canada (HCCC) is a member-based organization comprised of national health charities and patient groups who represent the voice of patients at all levels of the health continuum.  Our mandate is leading national collective action on health policy and health research to benefit patients living in Canada. A full list of our members can be found at (http://www.healthcharities.ca/membership/our-members.aspx).

 For more information, please contact:

Heather Idt

ea@healthcharities.ca