Dear CALTC Members,

As we continue to navigate daily political uncertainty and updates on tariffs, the Federal Liberals have elected a new leader who is now the Prime Minister designate, with a spring election anticipated.  I am continuing to work closely with Sanits to consider any impact of these variables on long term care and planning for the CALTC federal election campaign. Last week, the member’s election toolkit was shared with all CALTC members to be used by homes to engage local MP candidates. This toolkit can be found here. We encourage CALTC members to share this toolkit with your respective members for their use during the election campaign. Although we are not anticipating that long term care will be featured in party election platform documents as in the 2021 election, it is important that election candidates are aware of our key messages and how the federal government can support the long term care sector.

I have participated in several meetings over the last few weeks with government, elected officials, bureaucrats, and national organizations. These have been productive discussions and in particular the meeting with Infrastructure, Housing and Communities regarding the need for long term care home infrastructure development and access to CMHC, was positive. They anticipate a mandate to develop the National Housing Strategy for 2027 once a new government is in place and are open to on-going discussion how the federal government can support the long term care sector.

I look forward to seeing you all at our next quarterly meeting on March 27th.

Sincerely,
Jodi

Dear CALTC Members,

As the days grow longer and we anticipate the arrival of spring, we are also preparing for new challenges. The proposed US tariffs are a pressing concern. I have been in communication with colleagues from other national health organizations, our sponsors, and government officials to assess the potential impact on long-term care homes. While there are still unknowns, it is widely expected that costs within the health supply chain will rise, and shortages of certain products, such as medical devices, are anticipated. 

I raised this issue in a meeting with the Minister of Seniors on Tuesday, requesting that long-term care homes be specifically considered in any emergency funding programs planned in response to the tariffs. I reiterated this concern in a meeting with the Senior Policy Advisor for the Minister of Health on Wednesday. Both meetings were positive, and our messages were well received. I will continue to keep you updated on any further developments regarding tariffs and welcome your feedback on how your jurisdiction may be uniquely affected should they be implemented. 

On March 9th, the Liberal Party of Canada will select their new leader. We are watching closely to learn more on the timing of a federal election as well as keeping tabs on the party platforms that will emerge. The CALTC member election toolkit has been completed and will be shared next week. We encourage you to share this toolkit widely to promote participation from as many long-term care homes as possible. 

In addition, there are currently two open consultations that I would like to bring to your attention. For the last several years, the federal government has had a program called the “Canada Student Loan Forgiveness Benefit” that offers an amount for loan forgiveness to designated healthcare graduates who go to work in rural and remote communities. The government is currently considering amending the program to include more healthcare workers, such as PSWs, and have changed the definition of what size of community can qualify. If you wish to comment on this proposal, the deadline is March 17th. The link to participate is: Canada Gazette.

The other is the Department of Finance’s 2025 Pre-Budget Consultation. Formal submissions will be accepted until March 10th. CALTC is currently working with Santis to prepare a submission which will be shared with CALTC members for review once a draft is ready. The link can be found here: Pre-Budget Consultations 2025 - Canada.ca

Sincerely,
Jodi

Dear CALTC Members,

       I hope everyone has had a good start to the year! 2025 has begun with lots of political activity starting with the Prime Minister’s resignation announcement and the prorogation of Parliament, and now the Liberal leadership race. In spite of this activity, we are continuing to monitor developments of interest to long term care, including work to finalize the CALTC key messages for a federal election campaign. As part of the process, a final opportunity for feedback is open now and an e-vote will be conducted as early as next week as directed by the CALTC Board Chairperson. The updated key messages draft was sent in an email earlier this week and can be found here.

       We have sent correspondence to the new Federal Minister for Seniors,         Joanne Thompson, who was appointed on December 20th to welcome her to the role, introduce CALTC, and request a meeting. The Minister for Health, Mark Holland released the long-awaited interpretation letter regarding the Canada Health Act. This was to clarify the government’s interpretation of expanding scopes of practice for Nurse Practitioners, Midwives and Pharmacist and that their services must be publicly insured if the same service was delivered by  a Physician. The interpretation letter also noted virtual care, with limited impact. Santis reached out to Health Canada to further inquire if the role of Nurse Practitioner’s in LTC had been considered as part of this interpretation. The response was that it will be up to provinces and territories to determine how they will implement the change. To review the Santis memo regarding this interpretation letter, please see the memo here.

       With the consideration that provinces will need to decide on how to implement these changes, the First Health Minister’s meeting has now been rescheduled where this could be a topic of discussion. It was first scheduled for last November, but a snap election call by the host province postponed the meeting. It has now been rescheduled for January 29th and 30th in Halifax. CALTC will send a letter to the Minister of Health, and we encourage CALTC members to send a letter to their provincial Health Ministers and other applicable Ministers to encourage that LTC is on the FPT agenda. Here is a template letter that members can customize as needed.

       In other activities, I had an opportunity to meet last week with the new CEO of the Canadian Nurses Association, Valerie Grdisa. She is very interested in LTC and synergy opportunities with CALTC. I look forward to future discussions. I have also continued to work on grant opportunities and other business development initiatives for CALTC as discussed at the last quarterly meeting.
 

Sincerely,
Jodi