These are the qustions CCSN has asked of the 2025 federal election candidates. To see how parties and candidates responded, please see below.
Dear Candidate:
The Canadian Cancer Survivor Network (CCSN) works to connect patients, survivors and other stakeholder groups with decision makers and the wider community to engage in discussion and to act on evidence-based best practices to alleviate the medical, emotional, financial and social costs of cancer and encourage research on ways to overcome barriers to optimal cancer care and follow-up for patients, caregivers and survivors in Canada.
Approximately 247,100 people were diagnosed with cancer in Canada in 2024, with 88,100 deaths due to the disease. 45 per cent of people in Canada are expected to be diagnosed with cancer, and with 1 in 4 expected to die, it remains the leading cause of death in Canada. Lung, prostate, breast and colorectal cancers continue to make up the largest number of diagnoses, making up nearly half of all recorded cancer cases.[i]
The Federal government has an important role to play in making sure that Canadians diagnosed with cancer have access to treatments and financial stability throughout their journey.
We invite you to respond to the following questions related to cancer care and healthcare. Your responses will be circulated to cancer patients and survivors, posted on our website, www.survivornet.ca, disseminated to our 8,000 e-list subscribers, and on our social media.
Question 1: Employment Insurance Covering Cancer Patients
Employment insurance (EI) sickness benefit guarantees up to 26 weeks of financial assistance for those unable to work for medical reasons. According to data from the Canadian Cancer Society, some patients with breast, colon and rectal cancer can expect to see treatment and recovery times exceeding this.[ii]
Further, the Canadian Cancer Society released statistics stating that 20 per cent of all cancer costs are paid for, out of pocket, by cancer patients themselves.[iii]
If elected, will your government
- Recognize that there is a need for a new process that acknowledges that some cancer patients experience extended periods of treatment and recovery?
- Would your government also consider the need to hold open consultations with these individuals with lived experience about how this process would be developed and implemented?
- Implement the best practices from these consultations and ensure that EI is available for cancer patients until the end of their treatment?
- Make funding available to reduce the out-of-pocket costs associated with cancer care?
Question 2: Streamlining Healthcare Technology Assessments (HTA)
An article posted by the Macdonald Laurier Institute presents the Healthcare Technology Assessment (HTA) process as a barrier to “New and potentially lifesaving therapies.”[iv] The review process in Canada is one that is filled with redundancies, duplicate institutions, and federally funded organizations that do provincially mandated work.
If elected, will your government
- Consider re-evaluating the health technology assessment pathway and reframe the process to better serve patients in an equitable and timely manner?
- Do the previously stated while also considering the safe, reasonable, and affordable access for all Canadians.
Question 3: Safeguarding Cancer Drug Supply from Tariffs
Recent political developments in the United States have brought Canadian domestic industry under scrutiny. Recent media coverage indicates that pharmaceuticals, include cancer drugs, could be next for consideration for tariffs[v].
If elected, will your government
- Allocate funding to offset the potential cost increase of cancer treatments, including take-home cancer medications, for cancer patients, should they occur?
- Continue with initiatives to bring the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, including cancer drugs, to Canada to secure treatments for Canadians?
- Aim to increase domestic oncology and clinical trial research for cancer care?
Question 4: The Federal Role in Cancer Screening
Canada is falling behind on cancer screening. Our cancer screening guidelines are created by The Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care. These guidelines are rooted in outdated practices. They perpetuate geographic and racial health disparities, negatively affecting cancer outcomes across the country. The process by which the Task Force develops these guidelines has come under increasing criticism for its lack of accountability, transparency, ethical oversight, and lack of expert input. An independent review of the guideline process, the External Expert Review, has been commissioned.
If elected, will your government
- commit to reforming and modernizing the Task Force and our cancer screening guideline making process to ensure a broader range of evidence, transparency, accountability, and inclusivity?
[i] Projected estimates of cancer in Canada in 2024. Darren R. Brenner, Jennifer Gillis, Alain A. Demers, Larry F. Ellison, Jean-Michel Billette, Shary Xinyu Zhang, JiaQi Leon Liu, Ryan R. Woods, Christian Finley, Natalie Fitzgerald, Nathalie Saint-Jacques, Lorraine Shack, Donna Turner. CMAJ May 2024, 196 (18) E615-E623; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.240095
[ii] https://cancer.ca/en/get-involved/advocacy/what-we-are-doing/ei-sickness-benefits
[iii] Canadian Cancer Statistics Advisory Committee in collaboration with the Canadian Cancer Society, Statistics Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada. Canadian Cancer Statistics: A 2024 special report on the economic impact of cancer in Canada. Toronto, ON: Canadian Cancer Society; 2024. Available at: cancer.ca/Canadian-Cancer-Statistics-2024-EN
[iv] Rawson, Nigel/ Adams, John. Life on hold – How Canada’s drug approval delays endanger patients: Nigel S.B. Rawson and John Adams. Macdonald Laurier Institute. March 25th, 2025. https://macdonaldlaurier.ca/life-on-hold-how-canadas-drug-approval-delays-endanger-patients-nigel-s-b-rawson-and-john-adams/
[v] Global and Mail. Trump expects to announce tariffs on vehicles, pharmaceuticals in near future. March 24th 2025. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-trump-expects-to-announce-tariffs-on-vehicles-aluminum-and/