Mr. Speaker, with regard to part (a), on March 22, 2023, the Government of Canada announced measures in support of the first-ever National Strategy for Drugs for Rare Diseases, with an investment of up to $1.5 billion over three years. As part of this first phase, the Government of Canada will provide up to $1.4 billion over three years to provinces and territories through bilateral agreements.
This federal investment will increase access to safe and effective drugs for Canadians with rare diseases. Provinces and territories will be able to add new drugs to their formularies and increase coverage of existing drugs. The new funding will also enable provinces and territories to improve screening and diagnostics so that patients with a rare disease have a better chance of getting access to effective treatments at the right time, which can mean significantly better health and overall quality of life for patients and their families.
We are implementing this strategy by working with provinces and territories towards the development of bilateral agreements. Funding for the bilateral agreements will be available April 1, 2024, and run until March 31, 2027.
On July 23, 2024, the Government of Canada signed the agreement to support drugs for rare diseases, DRD, with British Columbia. The Government of Canada will provide $194 million to improve access to drugs for rare diseases, early diagnosis and screening, starting with the funding to support the province in providing access of two drugs under the National Strategy for Drugs for Rare Diseases: Poteligeo, for the treatment of mycosis fungoides or Sézary syndrome; and Oxlumo, for the treatment of hyperoxaluria type 1, will be made available to residents of B.C. These two drugs are the first drugs to be announced from the common list of new drugs that has been in development over the last year with provinces and territories.
With regard to parts (b), (c), (d) and (e), as noted in the response to (a), bilateral agreements with the other provinces and territories have yet to be signed at the time of this response, so funds have yet to be allocated. However, discussions with provinces and territories are under way to jointly determine a small set of new and emerging drugs that will be cost-shared and covered in a consistent way across Canada, for the benefit of patients. In addition to these drugs, the national strategy provides flexibility for jurisdictions to address their own unique circumstances, adding other new drugs to their formularies and increasing coverage of existing drugs.