Manitoba Leads The Way As The First Province To Join National Pharmacare Program

On February 27, 2025, Manitoba signed a bilateral pharmacare agreement with the federal government, officially becoming the first province to join the federal pharmacare program and gaining access to federal funding to cover the cost of contraceptives and diabetes medication.¹ Manitoba was already covering prescription birth control and most of the costs of diabetes medications under provincial pharmacare. According to the Manitoba government, the federal program will allow it to expand this coverage to include hormone replacement therapy and other contraceptives, the creation of a universal first-payer program for diabetes medications, and coverage for diabetes devices and supplies.² According to the government of Canada, the agreement "will support the reproductive freedom of nearly 350,000 Manitobans and make sure that over 149,000 Manitobans with diabetes can access essential medications to reduce their risk of serious health complications and improve their quality of life."³

The initial phase of the program provides coverage for diabetes and birth control drugs, while the results from a year-long study will evaluate which medicines should be covered in a full universal pharmacare program.

The coverage is anticipated to begin in June, with the deal seeing the federal government spending $219M on pharmacare coverage for Manitoba over four years.⁴ The funding also includes nearly $50M towards improving the access to diagnosis, screening, and medication for rare diseases, including types of lymphoma and certain rare genetic disorders, as part of the National Strategy for Drugs for Rare Diseases⁵As it stands, innovative treatments for rare diseases can cost anywhere from $100,000 to over $4M per year. A full list of medications covered under the deal will be released in the coming weeks.

The federal Pharmacare Act was originally tabled in February 2024 (see our group's previous report here), and became law in October 2024.

The deal has been applauded by organizations such as Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights and Diabetes Canada,⁶ while the Canadian Chamber of Commerce has voiced concerns that the agreement may force Manitobans "to rely on a restrictive list of treatments chosen by the government."

Footnotes

1 https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/news/2025/02/government-of-canada-signs-pharmacare-agreement-with-manitoba-to-improve-affordable-access-to-medications.html

2 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/pharmacare-agreement-federal-government-1.7470035

3 https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/news/2025/02/government-of-canada-signs-pharmacare-agreement-with-manitoba-to-improve-affordable-access-to-medications.html

4 https://globalnews.ca/news/11052456/manitoba-national-pharmacare-deal/

5 https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/health-care-systems/national-pharmacare/strategy-drugs-rare-diseases.html

6 https://www.actioncanadashr.org/news/2025-02-27-manitoba-becomes-first-province-accept-federal-pharmacare-deal; https://diabetes.ca/media-room/news/manitoba-pharmacare-deal-%E2%80%93-a-milestone-in-improvin

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