Health Committee on April 21st, 2026

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Welcome to meeting number 29 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health.

We recognize that we meet on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the Standing Orders.

I want to remind participants of the following points: Please wait until I recognize you by name before speaking. For those participating by video conference, please note that there will be a little globe at the bottom of your screen, and it is for interpretation. You can pick which language you want. Please mute your mic when you're not speaking.

This is a reminder that all comments should be made through the chair. For members in the room, of course, if you wish to speak, please raise your hand. The clerk and I will manage the speaking order as best we can.

We appreciate your patience and understanding.

I also want to mention something I heard from the interpreters: Your phones should not be used for any video or audio recording, because it bothers their ears. That is just for those who may think that they want to do so in future.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, the committee will begin its briefing session on PrescribeIT.

Before proceeding, I'd like to inform members that yesterday the clerk circulated a proposed budget of $1,500 for the meeting we are having today. It seems that it was the pleasure of the committee to adopt that. Is it?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

We have a three-hour meeting today. We're going to begin with our first hour from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., but before we do that, I want to tell the committee that we have a bit of a conundrum.

Every time we have a request from the committee to get material, any kind of material whatsoever that's not from a department—it could be from the private sector, individuals or whatever—the committee has to translate it. It's costly to the committee. We are asking for a lot of stuff, and it's going to cost us a lot. I wanted to ask you to think about this when you are making motions to request information.

Thank you very much.

I will begin with a witness from Telus Health today, who is going to be present virtually.

Do you have a question, Mr. Blanchette-Joncas?

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski—La Matapédia, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I just want to understand the point you raised.

Do you mean that we have to limit our requests for information because it might cost too much to obtain the data, since it has to be translated into both official languages?

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Yes. It not only takes money, but it takes time. Sometimes, it delays us in getting the information because we may have to do it if we're asking for it from any group other than a federal public institution or department.

Other people don't have that ability. They will send it to us in one language, and then we have to translate it. The point is that it takes a while to get it translated, so the information is often delayed. If we get a lot of those, we may have to go and request more money for this committee for this particular reason. I just wanted to flag it for you. That's all.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski—La Matapédia, QC]

Allow me to disagree with you, Madam Chair. In a democracy, there is no cost to the truth or to obtaining information. As a parliamentarian, I have the privilege to obtain information in both official languages. So it makes me very uncomfortable to hear you say that access to information could be compromised for fear that it would cost too much.

If you like, we can make a list of everything that costs the federal government too much. I think we could spend several hours on this at the committee. I find it sad that you are telling us to consider scaling back our requests, as parliamentarians, because translation may cost too much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

I said none of those things, Mr. Blanchette-Joncas. Please do not jump to conclusions.

I'm just informing the committee of something. If the committee wishes to request a million pieces of paper, they're free to do so, but we should know what I'm suggesting. We're having a problem with time in getting translations, and we have to wait while that happens because we're not the only standing committee. Other people have to get them too.

I'm informing you about the reality. I'm not suggesting that you stop what you're doing, and I'm not suggesting that you truncate requests. I'm doing none of that. I'm giving you a piece of information. That is all, Mr. Blanchette-Joncas.

Thank you.

Telus is here today as our witness. As you can see, Mr. Ratcho Batchvarov, vice-president for provider solutions, is online. Welcome.

We will start with a five-minute presentation from you. After that, I will give you a shout-out when there is one minute so that you can wrap up if you think you're going to run out of time. You will have time after that, when you get questions, to elaborate on some of the remarks you may not have had time to finish. Thank you very much.

Welcome, Mr. Batchvarov. You have five minutes.

[Ratcho Batchvarov, Vice-President, Provider Solutions, Telus Health]

Thank you.

Good afternoon, Madam Chair and members of the committee.

My name is Ratcho Batchvarov. I'm the vice-president of provider solutions at Telus Health. I'm an engineer by training. For nearly two decades, I've been focused on the intersection of health care and digital innovation.

I'm pleased to be here today to discuss the technical delivery and the lasting value of the PrescribeIT platform. I was not able to attend in person, given the timelines. I apologize for that.

I want to start by providing some context of who we are.

Telus Health is a national and global leader in health technology, operating in over 200 countries and territories. Our mission is to create a world in which health care is more connected, more secure and more accessible. In Canada alone, our technology supports tens of thousands of physicians, pharmacists and allied health professionals who rely on our systems every day to provide care to their patients. It was this deep expertise in the Canadian health care landscape that led Telus Health to be selected as a technology partner and provider for PrescribeIT.

Our mandate was clear: to deliver a first-of-its-kind, enterprise-grade national e-prescribing platform. This was a sophisticated piece of national infrastructure, designed to meet the most rigorous standards established by the federal government and Canada Health Infoway. Telus is proud of the work we performed in building this platform to an exacting standard, building it to be reliable and secure, and delivering it to Canadians.

When discussing the resources allocated to this project, it is important to view it through the lens of a long-term infrastructure commitment. Over the nine-year duration of our partnership with Canada Health Infoway, the total investment for the platform and subsequent incremental enhancements totalled $98 million, over which time Telus processed over 180 million PrescribeIT transactions between prescribers and pharmacists. This represents an annualized investment of approximately $10.9 million, inclusive of the cost to build and maintain the infrastructure. This funding did not just build a static piece of software: It sustained a living, evolving ecosystem. It covered the initial architecture, continuous 24-7 operational support and significant technological milestones.

This project came with a rigorous set of requirements. Infoway required exclusive access to our Telus Health Exchange platform for e-prescribing, required that sensitive health data remain securely within Canada and required that the platform be vendor-agnostic so that it could work seamlessly with all software providers across the country in all provinces and territories.

This was not a simple off-the-shelf application. It was a robust, secure and highly complex system built specifically to the requirements of the federal government and Canada Health Infoway. Telus Health delivered on those requirements.

From a technical standpoint, the platform was a success. It was built to an exacting standard. It was reliable, secure and designed to deliver for Canadians. It performed as intended, creating a dependable digital link between prescribers and pharmacists and enabling millions of secure e-prescribing transactions across the country.

We are proud of the work our engineers and health professionals put into this platform. By leveraging our foundational technology, including the Telus Health Exchange, we were able to provide a sophisticated starting point that successfully processed more than 180 million secure digital transactions for Canadians.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski—La Matapédia, QC]

I have a point of order, Madam Chair.

We no longer have interpretation.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Can we find out what's happening?

I have paused your speaking time. You will not lose your time while we find out why the interpretation is not available to everyone.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Just a second, we're still waiting to see if we can get interpretation. I'm so sorry.

I will suspend for two minutes.

[Ratcho Batchvarov]

Today, as the government looks forward to the future of health care—

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

I will resume the meeting.

You can continue, Mr. Batchvarov.

[Ratcho Batchvarov]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Today, as the government looks toward the future of health care through initiatives such as Bill S-5 and the push for national interoperability standards, the work done on PrescribeIT serves as a critical foundation. The research and development, the security protocols and the technical architecture developed during this project have provided a road map for what is possible in a connected health system.

At Telus Health, we remain committed to our role as a partner in this journey. We're proud of our record of delivery. We've provided a proven road map for the future of interoperability in the country. While the program's journey continues to evolve, our technical contribution remains clear. The technology worked. It was built to an exacting standard. It was built to be reliable and secure, and it delivered for Canadians.

Thank you, and I look forward to your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much.

Now I'll go to question and answer sessions. The first one is a six-minute session. The six minutes include the question and the answer, so I'd ask everyone to be thoughtful about the use of their time.

I will begin the first round with Mr. Mazier, for the Conservatives. You have six minutes, please.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

Thank you, Chair.

Mr. Batchvarov, welcome.

Over the life of PrescribeIT, what is the total dollar amount Telus Health received from Canada Health Infoway in licensing, service, development and any other fees? Could I have a specific dollar amount, please?

[Ratcho Batchvarov]

Yes. Over the course of the nine years that we supported the program, Telus Health received a total of $98 million, which averaged about $10.9 million per year to build and operate a secure national network that can support provincial differences across Canada.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

Could you provide a detailed breakdown of this, please, to the committee?

[Ratcho Batchvarov]

I'm not in a position to provide a detailed breakdown at this point, but I can share that there was an $89.5-million base, plus another $6.4 million for approved change orders.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

It's kind of puzzling, because we heard that $150 million is missing out of this amount. We've been told it had been paid out.

Were there any other funds that you received for other services?

[Ratcho Batchvarov]

I believe it's important to clarify roles and responsibilities. Those were the monies received by Telus. The other funding went to the program operator.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

Okay.

Does Telus Health plan to offer an e-prescription service in the future, yes or no?

[Ratcho Batchvarov]

When we started this process as part of an RFP with Canada Health Infoway, 85% of the IP involved in PrescribeIT leveraged Telus's pre-existing and proprietary technology, which was used for making services—

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

It's just a yes-or-no answer. Does Telus Health plan on offering an e-prescription service in the future, yes or no?

[Ratcho Batchvarov]

[Inaudible—Editor] our investments in this technology, there's definitely—