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Press Release - November 5, 2025
Failure to commit more pharmacare funding doesn’t add up - AccessBC response to federal budget announcement
The AccessBC campaign is expressing its disappointment following yesterday’s federal budget announcement, which failed to commit the additional funds necessary for the implementation of the Pharmacare Act.
The Pharmacare Act, passed in October 2024, committed to funding nationwide coverage for diabetes medication and supplies and free prescription contraception. However, since the Act’s passage, more than 60% of funding allocated for pharmacare implementation has been earmarked in the four agreements signed with provinces and territories so far. Those implementation agreements – with BC, Manitoba, the Yukon, and PEI – only cover 17% of Canada’s population.
“Without strong federal leadership to sign and fund deals with the remaining provinces and territories, millions of Canadians will continue to face barriers when trying to access life-saving and life-changing medicine,” said Teale Phelps Bondaroff, chair and co-founder of AccessBC, the campaign that successfully advocated for free prescription contraception in British Columbia. “The Liberals promised a national pharmacare program, but without a stronger funding commitment, that promise will remain unfulfilled for too many Canadians.”
“We've seen how impactful free prescription contraception has been in British Columbia and Manitoba. When people can access these medications without facing insurmountable cost barriers, it changes lives for the better,” said Devon Black, co-founder and national liaison for AccessBC. “It's beyond frustrating that, at a time when rising costs are putting more and more essentials out of reach, most Canadians are still waiting for the federal government to keep their promise on pharmacare.”
At a time when the federal government is seeking to sharply reduce operational costs, BC and Manitoba have demonstrated that providing coverage for free contraception is highly effective at reducing healthcare expenditures. Studies have found that free prescription contraception is a revenue-positive policy. Dr. Wendy Norman, from UBC’s Contraception and Abortion Research Team’s Contraception Cost-effectiveness modelling project team, estimated that the policy would save the BC health system $27 million annually, or around $5 per BC resident, per year.
“It is unacceptable that this government can find money in the budget to end the luxury tax on private jets and yachts, but can’t commit to funding coverage for basic, life-saving medications,” said Phelps Bondaroff, referring to the proposed removal of the luxury tax on aircraft and vessels proposed in the budget (p. 356). “Your ability to access life-saving and life-changing medication should not depend on your income or your postal code. This government needs to commit the necessary funding to make national pharmacare a reality.”
For more information and to support AccessBC’s advocacy for access to contraception, visit www.AccessBC.org
