- Technical Backgrounder - Related Links -

The Health Care Renewal Accord 2003.  
Canada's First Ministers agree to a new health plan to improve access to quality care for all Canadians.

A significant amount of its own funding is transferred by the federal government to the provinces and territories to support important social investments, such as health care and education. These are called transfers. Finance Canada administers these transfers. The key transfer programs are: 

• the Canada Health and Social Transfer (CHST), which goes to all provinces and territories and is used to fund health care, post-secondary education and social assistance and social services;

• Equalization, which ensures that less prosperous provinces can provide reasonably comparable public services without their taxes being out of line with those of more affluent provinces; and

• Territorial Formula Financing (TFF) which provides territorial governments with funding to support public services, in recognition of the higher cost of living in the north.

Federal Transfers to Provinces and Territories (October 2003).

Technical Backgrounder 

	Federal Support for Health Care: The Facts (October 2003).
	The Fiscal Balance in Canada:  The Facts (September 2003).

Related Links

	Canadian Economy Online
	Provincial and Territorial Departments of Finance (HotLinks).