Trudeau presents $196 billion healthcare funding, including $46 billion in new funding

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government will increase federal health-care transfers to the provinces by $196 billion over the next 10 years, though only about one-quarter of that is new, previously unexpected money.

Trudeau made this offer to the premiers today at a meeting in Ottawa.

He says it will include an immediate and unconditional top-up of $2 billion to the Canada Health Transfer to ease the intense pressure on hospitals.

The proposal includes a promise to increase the annual Canada Health Transfer over the next decade by another $17 billion above previous commitments.

As well, $25 billion will be sent over 10 years through one-on-one agreements with each province for four priority areas including family medicine, surgical backlogs, mental health and modernizing data-collection systems.

Trudeau says the one-one-one agreements can be flexible but provinces will have to show plans for how they will spend money and how they will measure progress in those areas.