Bill C-545

2nd Session, 41st Parliament,

62 Elizabeth II, 2013

house of commons of canada

BILL C-545

An Act respecting the provision of continuing care to Canadians

Whereas the spectrum of continuing care includes valuable and important services, such as home care, long-term care and palliative care, that provide life-saving and life-sustaining services outside the hospital and other acute care facilities;

Whereas continuing care services are an integral part of health care services and should be provided to Canadians based on the principles on which the Canada Health Act is founded, namely, public administration, comprehensiveness, universality, portability and accessibility;

Whereas there is, and will continue to be, increasing demand for continuing care services due to demographic changes and changing models of health care, such as those with a focus on primary care that puts patients first;

Whereas the absence of national standards means that Canadians and their caregivers lack access to a consistent level of services across Canada;

And whereas a focus on continuing care services will ensure better health care outcomes while relieving mounting pressures on acute care facilities;

Now, therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

SHORT TITLE

1. This Act may be cited as the Continuing Care for Canadians Act.

INTERPRETATION

2. The following definitions apply in this Act.

“continuing care services” means the services described in subsection 3(2).

“Minister” means the Minister of Health.

APPLICATION

3. (1) The purpose of this Act is to ensure that all Canadians have access to a consistent level of continuing care services as described in subsection (2).

(2) For the purposes of this Act, continuing care services are the integrated mix of health, social and support services offered on a prolonged basis, either intermittently or continuously, to individuals whose functional capacities are chronically impaired, temporarily impaired or at risk of impairment, with the objective of maintaining and, if possible, improving their functional independence and quality of life. Those services include home care, long-term care and palliative care.

PAN-CANADIAN STANDARDS, SUPPORTS AND INFRASTRUCTURE

4. (1) Within six months after this Act comes into force, the Minister must establish an advisory committee of no more than 20 members, comprised of representatives from the federal government, provincial and territorial ministers responsible for health, and national representative organizations of the First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.

(2) The Minister appoints the advisory committee members to hold office during pleasure for a term not exceeding three years, which term may be renewed for one or more further terms.

(3) The Minister must appoint one of the members as Chairperson of the advisory committee.

(4) The advisory committee must, in addition to other responsibilities under this Act, advise the Minister on any matter related to continuing care.

(5) The Minister may appoint to the advisory committee any person with relevant knowledge or expertise, including persons from the federal government and provincial and territorial ministries responsible for health.

(6) The Chairperson may determine the times and places at which the advisory committee will meet, but it must meet at least four times a year.

5. Within two years after the advisory committee is established, it must review the pan-Canadian assessment conducted in accord- ance with section 9 and establish pan-Canadian standards for delivering continuing care serv- ices, based on an integrated model of health care delivery that provides for transitions between different types of care. The standards must include

(a) the identification of best practices across the spectrum of continuing care services;

(b) means of addressing future needs in continuing care infrastructure, including the expansion of continuing care services and innovations to the structure of continuing care in order that home care, long-term care and palliative care systems complement each other and that people in need of care may access the appropriate care when they need it;

(c) the identification of the supports needed to provide caregivers with sufficient benefits, resources and respite to enable them to carry out their roles;

(d) means of ensuring the affordability of home care, long-term care and palliative care options for Canadians; and

(e) means of ensuring that adequate resources target the provision of better continuing care services for Canadians.

CASH CONTRIBUTION

6. Subject to this Act, a cash contribution in respect of the delivery of continuing care services is payable by the Government of Canada for each fiscal year to each province and territory in accordance with criteria established by the advisory committee to determine the appropriate level of funding needed to meet the standards established under section 5. This contribution is intended for the funding of direct continuing care services and for building health care infrastructure to provide direct continuing care services.

CONDITIONS OF CASH CONTRIBUTION

7. The advisory committee established under section 4 may, if it is of the opinion that a province or territory fails to meet the pan-Canadian standards referred to in section 5, recommend to the Government of Canada that

(a) any cash contribution to that province or territory for a fiscal year be reduced by an amount that is considered to be appropriate having regard to the gravity of the non-compliance; or

(b) where it is considered to be appropriate, the whole of any cash contribution to that province or territory for a fiscal year be withheld.

EXEMPTION

8. In recognition of the unique nature of the jurisdiction of the Government of Quebec with regard to health care, and despite any other provision of this Act, the Government of Quebec may choose to be exempted from the application of this Act and, despite any such decision, is entitled to receive the full federal funding that would otherwise be paid as the cash contribution for that province under section 6.

PAN-CANADIAN ASSESSMENT

9. (1) Within one year after this Act comes into force, the Minister must, in consultation with the provincial and territorial ministers responsible for health and with national representative organizations of the First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples, as well as with medical professionals, caregivers and persons living in continuing care situations, conduct a pan-Canadian assessment of the needs of Canadians relating to continuing care services that, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, includes an examination of the following issues:

(a) health care infrastructure relating to the provision of continuing care services;

(b) regional programs;

(c) access to services, especially in rural and remote settings;

(d) innovative and best practices in client-centred continuing care;

(e) supports for caregivers; and

(f) existing legislation on continuing care.

(2) The Minister must, without delay, publish the results of the pan-Canadian assessment on the departmental Internet site and provide the results to all provincial and territorial ministers responsible for health to enable them to take whatever measures are necessary to improve the delivery of continuing care services within their jurisdiction.

REPORT TO PARLIAMENT

10. (1) Within one year after this Act comes into force and every year after that, the Minister must, in consultation with the provincial and territorial ministers responsible for health and with national representative organizations of the First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples, as well as with medical professionals, caregivers and persons living in continuing care situations, conduct a study and prepare a report on the administration and operation of this Act.

(2) The report must contain a summary of all information in the possession of the Minister relating to the delivery of continuing care services in each province and territory and an assessment of whether the standards established under section 5 are being met in each province and territory.

11. The Minister must cause a copy of the report made under section 10 to be laid before each House of Parliament on any of the first 90 days on which that House is sitting after the completion of the report.