Speech for the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, Funding Announcement for the Canadian Institute for Health Information - University of Ottawa School of Medicine

June 27, 2012
Ottawa, Ontario

Check Against Delivery

Good morning everyone. It's great to be here with you today and to see so many familiar faces. Specifically, I would like to thank Dr. David Butler-Jones, Canada's Chief Public Health Officer, for joining us today.

Last week we wrapped up an incredibly busy Parliamentary session.

While the economy tends to dominate headlines for obvious reasons, our Government has made significant investments in important health initiatives over the past six months.

After committing long-term funding to provinces and territories that would see federal health transfers reach $40 billion by the end of the decade, we made many important announcements during the last Parliamentary session.

Investments in personalized medicine, aboriginal health initiatives, palliative care initiatives, pilot projects to help provinces and territories innovate healthcare...the list is long.

These record amounts of federal funding are happening at the same time that provinces and territories are investing significantly to deliver healthcare to citizens across the country.

With more money being spent on healthcare than ever before, it's more important than ever that governments can show Canadians whether or not they're getting the results they expect.

One of the ways we can make that happen is by funding high-quality research and data collection.

For almost two decades the Canadian Institute for Health Information has played a vital role in strengthening Canada's health care system.

Any health authority in the country can access CIHI data on primary health care, hospitals, community care, mental health, addictions, and various other topics.

The information and data that CIHI collects, analyzes and shares is important because it can help citizens and policy makers compare apples to apples across the country.

This helps identify areas of success, and areas for improvement.  Ultimately, it helps ensure that good policy decisions are made to improve the health of Canadians.

Today I am pleased to announce that the Harper Government will invest over $238 million in the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

This three year funding will allow CIHI to continue its excellent work of providing reliable, nationally comparable data.

This is especially important as governments consider how to move forward with health care reform.

Building on my recent discussions with provincial and territorial Health Ministers, my counterparts have indicated a willingness to discuss how to improve national measurement and accountability when it comes to healthcare.

Once the Council of the Federation releases its report in July with their plans for innovation within their jurisdiction, Health Ministers can begin the work of strengthening the accountability of the healthcare system.

I also know that improving health care requires teamwork, and that Canadians are best served when we work together.

The funding announced today will not only help support health system reforms but it will also enable governments to provide progress reports to Canadians on how they are improving health care.

I thank CIHI for its commitment and ongoing contributions in the field of health information. I also want to thank members of the University of Ottawa's School of Medicine for hosting this event.

Thank you.