The Standing Committee on Health, as you know, is proud of its achievements in times gone by and currently. It has a lot of experience when it comes to working on difficult and important issues for Canadians. I have no doubt that the work you will do around this table and others like it will be good for Canada over the next few years as we address health issues that could actually redefine public policies in the field of health for generations to come.
In many ways, as you know, working as a doctor for the last 30 years has helped to prepare me for this role and I'm deeply honoured to be in this position and to have this opportunity. I have practised medicine here in Ontario for many years, and I've also had the privilege of working in a number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa including living and practising medicine in West Africa for almost a decade. Those were some of the most satisfying years of my life.
The harsh realities of health and living conditions in some of the world's poorest countries have taught me a great deal about social determinants of health, what it is that keeps people healthy. It has shaped my vision for how we can improve health outcomes, both here and internationally.
Helping people benefit from and enjoy healthy and fulfilling lives is a matter of more than just providing the right drugs. It is also a matter of ensuring sound governance and having a system tailored to all the necessary objectives.
Before I continue, I want to also thank my colleagues who have gathered around me today. They've already been introduced, but I would like to say again, thank you to Simon Kennedy, my deputy minister of health, and to Siddika, who has joined us. We're absolutely delighted to have a new president of the Public Health Agency of Canada. I also want to thank Dr. Greg Taylor, Dr. Alain Beaudet, and Bruce Archibald. I believe we also have Barbara Jordan here. Is that correct? She's with us at the back, and she's the vice-president of policy and programs for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Today, in the next few minutes, it's my aim to provide you with an update on the activities of the health portfolio and to talk about some of the key issues that this committee is going to address in its work over the coming months. Afterwards I'd be very pleased to answer any questions that you may have.
Canada's publicly funded health care system is a source of pride, and it's a defining value, as you know, for Canadians who rely on it for timely access to universal and high-quality services based on need and not based on the ability to pay. However, while Canada's health care system has served Canadians well, we would agree I believe that it must be strengthened in order to better meet the needs of patients as Canada changes in its demographics and disease patterns, as new technologies emerge and continue to shape the delivery of care, and as we try increasingly to move the delivery of care into homes and communities.
Canadians will be pleased to know that our budget has provided immediate investments that will support pan-Canadian progress on a number of priorities in the form of innovations within the health care system. In addition, budget 2016, as you may be aware, has announced initiatives that will help Canadians maintain and improve their health, including expanding access to nutritious food in the north, expanding food safety and enhancing those mechanisms, providing funding for specific men's and women's health initiatives, improving vaccine uptake and coverage, and investing in concussion protocols.
As members know, our government is committed to helping Canadians maintain and improve their health.
Our health care system is a source of national pride, but the gaps are widening. Transforming the way that health care in this country is delivered is one of my top priorities.
In January, as I suspect you know, I sat down with my provincial and territorial colleagues, the health ministers across the country, to begin working out a new vision for health care. We discussed and agreed upon a number of shared health priorities that will resonate with Canadians. These priorities put us on a solid footing to move forward with the development of a new health accord, one that will help provinces and territories accelerate their work in transforming care for Canadians, and I'll have a bit more to say about that accord in a few moments.
I wanted to comment a little regarding the main estimates and the supplementary estimates (C). I want to outline for you where they fit within the portfolio. Health Canada's main estimates, as you have seen, outline $3.75 billion in spending authorities for 2016-17. This represents a net increase of $97.8 million over the spending in 2015-16.
There are funding increases of $249 million for 2016-17 that relate primarily to first nations and Inuit health programming, and funding for the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement. You will note there is a decrease in the program of $151 million. That is mainly due to the sunsetting of some program funding, and I'd be happy to respond to your questions about that as we go along.
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research main estimates outline just over $1 billion in spending authorities for 2016-17, and this represents a net increase of $17 million over 2015-16. The net funding increase consists primarily of contributions to projects funded under the Canada first research excellence fund and the Canadian centres of excellence for commercialization and research program.
The Public Health Agency's main estimates outline $589.7 million, which represents an increase of $22.5 million over 2015-16 main estimates, which were $567 million. The major factors contributing to this net increase include new funding for medical countermeasures for smallpox and anthrax preparedness, as well as the reprofiling of the Ebola preparedness funding and response initiative in 2016-17. The agency's funding increase of $13.7 million in the 2015-16 supplementary estimates (C) consists primarily of new funding for the aboriginal head start in urban and northern communities program. It also includes funding for responding to the Syrian refugee crisis and for establishing the Canadian Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation.
The main estimates spending authorities for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency for 2016-17 are $739.7 million and that's a net increase of $41.5 million over 2015-16.
The main elements of this funding include the federal infrastructure initiative, which will help renew and upgrade CFIA assets and infrastructure. The funding includes continued work under the electronic service delivery platform, which will make tools and technologies available to industry, trade and international partners, as well as inspectors and CFIA staff. In addition, the funding will be used to improve food safety oversight in Canada.
This proposed spending is going to ensure that the government can contribute to and focus on important health priorities that are designed to result in better health outcomes for all Canadians.
Now, as this is my first appearance before this committee, I want to take a few moments to outline other priorities within the health portfolio.
In terms of health care transformation, you and I know that high-quality universally accessible and publicly financed health care is an essential foundation for a strong and prosperous Canada, but it had been more than a decade since health ministers from across this country sat down together to map out a plan to improve health care for Canadians. Restoring the federal government's role as a vital partner in supporting a more adaptable, innovative, and affordable health system is critical.
I believe that, if we work together, we can bring about real change in the health care system, so that Canadians can continue to enjoy high-quality and sustainable health care.
To that end, I met with provincial and territorial health ministers in Vancouver this past January to kick off discussions around a new long-term health accord.
We discussed a plan to work collaboratively and to support health care transformation and health system transformation that would enable a more accessible, patient-centred, and responsive care for Canadians. As an important first step at the meeting, we agreed to the key priority areas where transformation actions will bring about real change. We're going to be looking for ways to make sure that drugs are more affordable and accessible. We will explore approaches to making sure we move more health services from institutions into the community, including both home care and palliative care. We will look at how we can improve access to high-quality mental health care across the country. We're also going to look at how promising and proven innovations in the organization and delivery of health care services can be adopted and spread across the country.
The work to support this is going to be a focus of considerable activity in my department—in fact, it already has been—as we work with provinces and territories to develop the best approaches to address these issues. Although, as you know, health care delivery is largely in provincial and territorial jurisdictions, there are a number of things the federal government can do to support provinces and territories in their efforts to transform the health care system, and we're going to carefully study how federal activities and levers can help to accelerate progress in these areas of shared priorities.
By that I mean, for example, how our role in regulating drugs and our support for pan-Canadian health organizations can accelerate progress. We're going to explore how the federal commitment to invest $3 billion in the next few years in home care can be implemented to the best effect. I'm excited about the opportunities this work holds, and I look forward to working with my provincial and territorial colleagues on our health priorities.
At the beginning of the summer, I will meet with them again to see how progress is coming along. My hope is that we can ultimately find common ground so that we can work towards a plan that will transform and strengthen our nationally funded health care system.
We already know, on the matter of research, what needs to be done to improve our health care system. Health research has been essential in improving the quality of care and ensuring that Canadians get good value for the money that's spent.
The Government of Canada has made significant investments in health research to broaden its knowledge of health matters. That expertise shapes best practices and leads to improvements in the health care system.
This builds on an existing collaboration with our provincial and territorial partners on efforts such as Canada's strategy for patient-oriented research, otherwise known as SPOR. You may know that SPOR is a national coalition that's committed to health care innovation across Canada. Its goal is to foster evidence-informed health care by bringing innovative diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to the point of care.
On the matter of indigenous health, those of us who are parents know that we want our children, for example, to have the best opportunities in life. Those kinds of great opportunities involve having access to a good education, access to nutritious food, access to clean water, a roof over our heads, and access to quality health care. These are the basics that every Canadian child should expect.
There is no doubt that health conditions in many first nations and Inuit communities across Canada are deplorable and must be fixed. It has taken generations, though, for these problems to develop, and they're not going to be solved overnight. I find it deeply troubling as a physician, parent, and Canadian that these conditions should exist in a nation as affluent as ours.
History has shown that a top-down approach does nothing to address gaps. To do that, we need to build partnerships with first nations and Inuit leaders, a process that will require respect and an attentive ear.
In its throne speech, our government reaffirmed its commitment to building a nation-to-nation relationship with aboriginals. Moved by that spirit of partnership, I am committed to working with first nations, the provinces and territories, as well as front-line health care providers.
Already, as you may know, our department is investing more than $2.5 billion each year in first nations and Inuit health. However, truly embracing wellness will require uniting the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of health to help change health outcomes. Also, implementing the calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is going to be an important part of that healing process. I believe that by working together we can close those gaps in health status. As Minister of Health, I am personally committed to beginning this change now and to ensuring that these actions are sustained over the long term.
Next is the matter of healthy living and healthy eating.
Physical inactivity, poor diet, and injury remain major concerns. As a result of these problems, an increasing number of Canadians visit the doctor or a hospital every year.
Promoting an active and healthy lifestyle and preventing injury and illness remain at the heart of the federal government's efforts to help Canadians—
