March 31, 2021 – HealthCareCAN is encouraged by today’s federal announcement to commit up to $415 million to grow Canada’s biomanufacturing capacity and strengthen Canada’s pandemic preparedness.
The timing could not be more urgent. This important investment comes on the heels of a recent announcement by U.S. President Joe Biden, who has earmarked $2 trillion for infrastructure, including hospital renovations. Investments like that of the United States and other countries could lead to increased difficulty for Canada to retain its global competitiveness, not to mention our home-grown talent.
Canada’s health research sector and HealthCareCAN members across the country partner and develop bio-sciences companies everyday with the scientific edge to become global anchor firms in biotechnology. The investment announced today should be seen as a first step to strengthening Canada’s health research and bio manufacturing sectors. However, this will require a long-term funding strategy to allow Canada to enhance its position worldwide.
HealthCareCAN has long advocated for increased investments in the health and biosciences research sector. In our 2021 prebudget submission, we pressed the federal government to invest in health research to the level equivalent to two per cent of public spending on health, allocated equally between health research and knowledge translation for health innovation.
While this investment is far from the $3.7 billion required to bring health research investments up to the level we have proposed, and further still from the investments needed to transform the health and biosciences sector so Canada can continue to meet the needs of Canadians and remain competitive globally, it a significant step in the right direction. HealthCareCAN and its members look forward to working with the federal government to further strengthen our health research and biosciences sector and shore up our heath system for future generations.
Paul-Émile Cloutier, President & CEO
HealthCareCAN
HealthCareCAN is the national voice of healthcare organizations and hospitals across Canada. We foster informed and continuous, results-oriented discovery and innovation across the continuum of healthcare.
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Media contact:
Alexandria Rowe
Communications and Member Services
ARowe@healthcarecan.dev2.inter-vision.ca
855-236-0213/613-241-8005 ext. 221 │ Cell: 613-220-1023
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