Fund palliative care framework
Petitioners ask the Government of Canada to renew the Framework on Palliative Care in Canada by investing $29.8 million over four years to implement national standards, a common dataset and earlier palliative access.
Why we would sign this petition
- Improves access and timing of palliative care, which can reduce long hospital stays and intensive interventions and improve quality of life for seriously ill patients.
- Establishes national standards and a common dataset to track services and measure progress across provinces and settings.
- Funds practical supports and capacity-building for primary care providers to deliver earlier palliative approaches.
Why we wouldn’t sign this petition
- Adds $29.8M in federal spending that may displace other health priorities or create trade-offs in resource-limited budgets.
- Success depends on provincial health systems; federal funding and standards may have limited practical impact without provincial implementation.
- May not be the most efficient approach; targeted investments or reforms within existing programs could achieve similar results with less new funding.
The summary and both sets of reasons are AI-generated from the petition and given equal weight. Claims are the petitioners’ own; consult the official record for the full text.
Official petition
Petition to the Government of Canada Palliative care is an approach that aims to relieve suffering and improve the quality of life for those living with a serious illness and their loved ones; In Canada, only 58% of people who might have benefited from palliative care ended up accessing these services, approximately half of whom are only identified as needing these services 22 days or less before their death (CIHI, 2023); 61% of people who receive palliative care still only receive it in hospital and patients admitted to hospital with palliative conditions had stays longer than 2 weeks on average (CIHI, 2023); Delivering palliative care earlier typically reduces hospital admissions, long hospital stays, re-admissions, visits to intensive care, and inappropriate diagnoses and interventions—all of which are costly to the healthcare system and negatively impact a person’s quality of life (WHO, 2020); There remain no agreed-upon common dataset or mandatory national standards to track services requested and delivered in Canada; and Health Canada’s own public opinion research also shows that primary care providers report a lack of knowledge, confidence, tools, and practical support to implement a palliative approach to care. We, the undersigned, Citizens and Residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to renew its commitment to the Framework on Palliative Care in Canada by investing a further $29.8 million over the next four years to achieve its goals.
Government response
No government response is available yet.