National Women's Health Plan Framework

Summary#

• This bill would create a national plan to improve women’s health in Canada. It tells the federal Health Minister to work with provinces, territories, Indigenous peoples, experts, and community groups to set clear priorities and actions.

• The plan must focus on better research and innovation, stronger primary care and prevention for women of all ages, more training for health workers, and better access for women who face barriers.

• Key changes:

  • A national framework to guide work on women’s health across Canada.
  • Required collaboration with provinces, territories, Indigenous peoples, and other stakeholders.
  • Emphasis on funding research and bringing new ideas to market (commercialization).
  • Training for health care providers to improve care for women.
  • Targeted steps to improve access for rural and remote women, Indigenous and racialized women, 2SLGBTQI+ women, and women without a regular doctor.
  • Regular conferences and reports to Parliament to track progress, plus a commitment to keep women’s health on the agenda at health ministers’ meetings.

What it means for you#

• Women and girls

  • You may see more attention to prevention and screening over time.
  • The goal is better primary care and faster access, but changes will roll out after the plan is developed.
  • No new benefit or coverage is created right away.

• Women in rural and remote areas

  • The plan must include targeted solutions to reduce travel and wait times. Options could include mobile clinics or telehealth, but details will be set later.

• Indigenous, racialized, and 2SLGBTQI+ women

  • The framework must address barriers to care and work toward culturally safe services.
  • It aims to reduce gaps in outcomes by focusing on communities that face the greatest hurdles.

• Women without a family doctor

  • The plan must look at ways to connect women to consistent care and strengthen primary care teams.

• Patients in general

  • Health providers would receive more training in women’s health. This could improve diagnosis and treatment of conditions that often go missed or misdiagnosed in women, such as heart disease, chronic pain, or endometriosis.

• Health care providers

  • Expect new training, guidelines, and best practices focused on women’s health across disciplines.

• Researchers and entrepreneurs

  • There may be more support for women’s health research and for women-led startups to bring new tests, devices, or treatments to market.

• Provinces and territories

  • You would work with the federal government on the framework. Provinces still run health care, but the federal minister must try to keep women’s health as a standing agenda item in joint meetings.

• Timing

  • The Health Minister must table a plan within one year of the law taking effect and publish it online.
  • An effectiveness report is due within five years after the first report is tabled.

Expenses#

No publicly available information.

Proponents' View#

• Creates a clear national plan to close long-standing gaps in women’s health.
• Builds common standards and training across the country, leading to better diagnosis and care.
• Focus on prevention and primary care could reduce emergency visits and hospital costs.
• Boosts research and women-led innovation, which supporters say can grow jobs and the economy.
• Targets access problems for rural, Indigenous, racialized, and 2SLGBTQI+ women to make care fairer.
• Regular reports and meetings add accountability and keep the issue on the public agenda.

Opponents' View#

• The framework is broad and vague, with no firm targets or guaranteed funding.
• Health care is mainly run by provinces; a federal plan could duplicate work or create red tape.
• Conferences and reports may add bureaucracy without fixing front‑line shortages of doctors and nurses.
• Emphasis on public–private collaboration and commercialization could shift focus from patient care to profit.
• Might divert limited resources from other urgent health needs or from men’s and children’s health issues.
• Measures of success are unclear, raising the risk of symbolic action rather than concrete change.