Council of the Federation

July 17, 2015–
Latest news: CPhA Statement on Council of the Federation Health Care Communiqué:

The Canadian Pharmacists Association (CPhA) welcomes the announcement by Canada’s Premiers affirming their continued leadership to address the health needs of Canadians in the areas of pharmaceutical access and calling for a substantive discussion on broader approaches to pharmacare.

CPhA has been an active contributor to Canada’s Premiers’ Health Care Innovation Working Group (HCIWG) since its creation in January 2012 and has participated on several HCIWG working groups on team based models, pharmaceutical pricing and appropriateness of care.
CPhA is committed to continuing this collaboration with Canada’s Premiers as they explore broader approaches to pharmacare programs used in other jurisdictions. CPhA launched its Pharmacare 2.0 initiative in late-June to leverage pharmacists’ first-hand knowledge and expertise in appropriate and effective drug therapies and is supportive of the Premiers’ commitment to ensuring more cost-efficient and accessible health systems for Canadians.

In April 2014, the Council of the Federation (CoF) announced the price of four additional molecules would be reduced to 18% of the brand-name products' price. — Find more information

Canada's premiers created the Council of the Federation (CoF) in 2003 to promote intergovernmental relations between provinces and territories. In 2012 CoF established the Health Care Innovation Working Group (HCIWG), led by Premiers Wall of Saskatchewan and Ghiz of PEI. HCIWG is pursuing health care reform in a number of initial areas: team-based models of care, pan-Canadian Clinical Practice Guidelines and generic drug pricing reforms. These efforts have the potential to change pharmacy practice and pharmaceutical policy, and CPhA is directly engaged, both independently and in collaboration with other health and pharmacy organizations.

CPhA is an active member on several HCIWG initiatives, including the Pharmaceutical Pricing Working Group, the Seniors Working Group and the Team-Based Model Working Group, where we are working with officials to implement the July 2013 Premiers' directive to "increase the important role paramedics and pharmacists play in the provision of front line services."

We responded to the recent CoF announcement on generic drug pricing with our press release Generic Pricing Decision Short-Changes Patient Care. We initially raised our concerns in CPhA Supports Premiers' Report But Raises Concerns Over Generic Drug Purchasing when the HCIWG report was released last summer.

We also sponsored the CoF annual meeting of the provincial and territorial premiers in Halifax July 25-27,2012. One of the key items on the premiers’ agenda was health care reform, specifically a report and series of recommendations from the Task Force on Innovation on three main issues: scope of practice, health human resources and clinical practice guidelines. Our sponsorship meant that CPhA representatives had the opportunity to meet and converse with Canada’s provincial and territorial leaders to emphasize the role that pharmacists can play in a reformed health care system. Find out more with our blog Behind the Scenes at the Council of the Federation.