How the Minister of Health can support business recovery

After over a year-and-a-half of lockdowns and sacrifice, Canadians are seeing the benefits of their efforts to stop COVID-19. The pandemic is not over, but we can now look beyond COVID to plan for our future. Now, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce is writing “mandate letters” to members of the Cabinet with policy priorities that will support growth of the Canadian economy.

The Minister of Health should:

• Work with the Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship and Minister of Transport to implement an interoperable digital health credential. This system should be interoperable across provincial boundaries and support international mobility.

• Work with the cannabis industry, provinces, and territories, as well as the Minister of Finance and Minister of Public Safety to undertake a review of the Cannabis Act that prioritizes the growth of the sector while respecting the public health and safety of Canadians.

• Remove regulations that unduly pose an administrative and economic burden on business, such as naming conventions regarding cannabis strains or burdensome front of pack labelling requirements.

• Work with the Minister of Innovation to implement the biomanufacturing and life sciences strategy to attract investment and grow the domestic industry, as well as accelerate the rapid adoption of health technologies.

• Support standardized outcome-based procurement of health products and drive more investment in early detection and screening, including at points of care. Deliver this in collaboration with provincial and territorial governments.

• Utilize technology and work more effectively with the provinces to deliver healthcare to Canadians. Facilitate interoperability between data and information systems while maintaining a high level of security and confidentiality.

To see all 21 of our mandate letters to ministers, click here.