Health Committee on Oct. 9th, 2025

[Greg Orencsak]

At the moment, to my knowledge, we have no further requests from the B.C. government to change or amend the exemption. The existing exemption does expire at the end of January.

[Marcus Powlowski, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON]

On dental care, I have a lot of elderly people who come to my office and say that they have dental insurance and, therefore, they can't access the government plan. They're told that even if they get rid of their insurance, they still won't be able to access the government plan. It seems kind of unfair to elderly people on limited incomes that this is the case.

Can you verify that this is actually true or does the government actually...? How's the government going to know whether you have private insurance or if you recently stopped your private insurance?

[Greg Orencsak]

We have now over five million Canadians who have signed up for dental care. I think the number is up to 5.3 million. A significant share of that is seniors. Seniors were the first ones able to sign up for the program.

If a senior has access to dental insurance through, for example, a benefit plan associated with their retirement supplementary health benefits, then they would not be eligible for the Canadian dental care plan. If they have no access to that kind of private insurance, they would be eligible to apply.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Dan Mazier]

Very good. Thank you.

We'll go into the fourth round with Mr. Strauss.

[Matt Strauss, Conservative, Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON]

Thank you, Chair. It's nice to see the officials again.

Madam Hamzawi, we had a discussion about the PHAC scientific strategy report the last time you were at committee. I had one more line of questions regarding that report.

The report uses the term “humility” many times. It says PHAC recognizes the importance of “humility in the discovery and use of [scientific] evidence”.

Part of humility might be for an organization to acknowledge when it gets things wrong. Do you have any examples of things that PHAC has gotten wrong over the last few years?

[Nancy Hamzawi, President, Public Health Agency of Canada]

Thank you very much for the question.

Perhaps what I might do, actually, to recognize the fact that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, is reflect on the data that we have available with respect to the age for breast cancer diagnosis by race and ethnicity.

For example, the study by Anna Wilkinson, Carmina Ng, Larry Ellison and Jean Seely in The Oncologist in 2024 breaks that down. What you see in that series of bell curves is that the peak for the age of breast cancer diagnosis for white women is around 65 years of age in terms of the final peak. However, when you look at the data for Métis, Black, South Asian, Chinese, Filipina and first nations women, the peak is actually earlier.

As we reflect on how we provide information to individuals in Canada to make the proper decisions for themselves, we have to make sure that we really drill down in terms of the disaggregated nature of that data and provide nuanced guidance and information for Canadians and all people living in Canada, so they are able to protect their health.

[Matt Strauss, Conservative, Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON]

That's terrific. I take your answer as saying that, yes, PHAC has erred in not disaggregating data sufficiently when it has given its recommendations over the last few years.

May we look forward to PHAC doing a better job of disaggregating this data under your leadership?

[Nancy Hamzawi]

Thank you for the question.

The way I would describe it would be that the science strategy outlines four key priorities for the agency. The first is “Advancing data science and the science of public health surveillance”. It is a continued journey for us in terms of making sure we have access to disaggregated data in as comprehensive a manner as possible.

[Matt Strauss, Conservative, Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON]

Terrific.

I'm not sure which official could best answer these next questions.

Returning to the vaccine injury support program, when I asked the minister how long the audit will take, she said it will be done as soon as possible. Does anyone on the panel have more precise information or a ballpark on how long this audit will take?

She also didn't answer the second part of my question. Is Oxaro, the consulting firm, continuing to process claims while the audit is under way?

[Nancy Hamzawi]

I would just note that we recognize and have heard very clearly the frustration and hardships of claimants through the program. We are highly focused on making sure that we modernize the program in a very careful and informed way. We are very much looking forward to the audit being concluded as soon as possible. The audit, at this point in time, is well under way.

On the second part of your question—

[Matt Strauss, Conservative, Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON]

The first part wasn't really answered. Ballpark, how long will the audit take?

[Nancy Hamzawi]

I do not want to set a firm timeline for the auditors. I want to make sure that the proper due diligence is done so that we have the best possible advice—

[Matt Strauss, Conservative, Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON]

Is Oxaro continuing to process claims while the audit is under way?

[Nancy Hamzawi]

Yes.

[Matt Strauss, Conservative, Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON]

I understood from Global News reporting that 1,500 cases hadn't even been processed. Are you willing to set a timeline on how long it will take for those Canadians who feel they've been vaccine-injured to have their claims even heard?

[Nancy Hamzawi]

As of June 1, 2025, the last report we received from Oxaro, a total of 3,317 claims have been received, of which 1,227 claims have been reviewed by the medical review board. We understand that 2,303 claims are pending review by Oxaro and the medical review board.

[Matt Strauss, Conservative, Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON]

How long will those Canadians be waiting for that review?

[Nancy Hamzawi]

My understanding is that it takes 18 to 24 months, on average. However, again, this process is managed by Oxaro.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Dan Mazier]

Thank you, Mr. Strauss.

Ms. Sidhu, you have five minutes.

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will be sharing my time with my colleague.

Could you speak to how Health Canada and the federal government are working with the provinces and territories to ensure more consistent and timely access to approved and funded treatment across Canada, especially for cancer treatment drugs, so that patients do not face delays just because of where they live?

[Greg Orencsak]

Thank you. I will take that question.

We are working with provinces and territories as well as Canada's Drug Agency, which is the health technology assessor, on ways in which we can accelerate our processes. Health Canada is responsible for reviewing the safety and efficacy of a drug, but there are steps being taken to accelerate some of the health technology reviews, sometimes in parallel with the work that Health Canada is also doing.

We're also working, for example, with international partners. Oncology drugs are a good example of that in respect of an initiative called project Orbis. The initiative is to help accelerate the approval and review of those drugs so that provinces can make faster decisions to add those to their formularies, as the Province of Ontario has committed to do just recently.

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

Do you think if there's no national framework for that, if some drug is offered in B.C. but not in Ontario, it's not fair or equitable to Canadians? What do you think about that?

[Greg Orencsak]

There is a high degree of co-operation and information sharing, I think, amongst provinces and territories as well as the entities that are involved in the review of drugs. Ultimately, at the end of the day, it is the province or territory that determines what drugs are listed on their formularies. That authority and responsibility continue to rest with provinces and territories.

As I said, there is a high degree of co-operation and information sharing. I do think that's helpful in terms of how the system works.

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

This is my last question.

I know next month is Diabetes Awareness Month. Are there any programs from Health Canada on diabetes awareness? Can you elaborate on that?

[Nancy Hamzawi]

Sure. Thank you very much for the question.

In terms of diabetes, there is the “Framework for Diabetes in Canada”, which was tabled in Parliament on October 5, 2022. It provides a common policy direction to address diabetes and lays the foundation for collaborative and complementary actions by all sectors of society.

In 2023-24, we at the agency conducted a scan on diabetes in Canada. Through investments of budget 2021, there has been $35 million provided over five years. This went in part to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, of which $15 million was matched by Breakthrough T1D to support type 1 diabetes research through CIHR's “100 Years of Insulin” initiative.

We have a type 2 diabetes prevention challenge prize, which is $10 million over five years with Impact Canada. We had seven finalists, who were announced in July 2024. This upcoming winter, we look forward to results being submitted to the panel of judges for review and assessment. There will be up to two winners selected to receive a $1.5-million grand prize.

We also have $5 million that has been allocated to the enhancement of surveillance capacity and the development of the framework to really make sure that we have clarity in terms of trends across the country in a disaggregated way. There's $1 million in funding over three years for Diabetes Canada to develop an inventory of successful diabetes programs. We have $1.5 million over four years for the National Indigenous Diabetes Association. We have $250,000 to Diabetes Québec to develop a diabetes awareness and education program for individuals of north African descent living in Quebec and allied health professionals.

All of that is in addition to the support that we provide through the healthy Canadians and communities fund, which is a $20-million-per-year program.