Pharmacare: A plan for everyone

Canada’s unions are working to win a universal prescription drug plan that covers everyone in Canada, regardless of their income, age or where they work or live.The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) and allies are hosting a series of town hall meetings in communities across the country to spotlight the need for Canada to introduce a public, universal Pharmacare program for everyone. Canada is the only country in the world that has a public, universal health care system that doesn’t include coverage for prescription medication.

Our patchwork system of drug plans is expensive and inefficient. Canadians pay the second highest costs for medications in the world after the United States.

One-third of working Canadians don’t have employer-funded prescription drug coverage. And many benefit plans don’t provide full coverage for drug costs. 3.5 million, or one in ten, Canadians are unable to afford the medications they need.

Some Canadians are forced to make impossible choices between paying for basic needs like rent, heat, and groceries, or the medication that they depend on. The consequences of these limited choices are staggering.

National Pharmacare Campaign Video:

Judy and Gary Hope, a Cambridge, Ontario couple, had to make the painful decision between keeping their family home or paying $3000 per month for the medication that would help save Judy’s life. Their heartbreaking story is just one amongst many others that chronicle the devastating impacts Canadians endure every day when they can’t afford to pay for the life-saving medications they need. This is unacceptable. Canadians deserve better.

CUPE has fought very hard to win health insurance coverage for many of our members. But even members with drug coverage worry about being able to afford the full costs of the medication they and their family members depend on.

Take Action

Canada needs a national, publicly funded, comprehensive, and universal Pharmacare program now. Our governments can do much more to ensure no Canadian is left behind.

Add your name to the CLC’s online petition and help us win prescription drug coverage for all Canadians regardless of their income, age, or where they work or live.

It’s time to complete the unfinished business of Medicare and make prescription drugs affordable for everyone.

Water is life. But for far too long, Indigenous peoples have had to fight to protect this precious resource and vital service.

CUPE is committed to working towards truth and reconciliation. Our Water is life campaign recognizes the strength and dignity of Indigenous peoples who have been affected by water injustice, and who have fought for change.

The campaign raises awareness about the ongoing struggles of Indigenous peoples, and shows how CUPE members can listen, learn and act.

Today, many Indigenous peoples in Canada don’t have access to safe, clean drinking water. This violates the internationally recognized human right to water.

Tackling boil water advisories in First Nation communities is just the start of what’s needed to end water injustice and discrimination. CUPE’s Water is life campaign looks at what it will take to ensure access to clean water for all Indigenous peoples.

Government inaction and corporate pollution threaten water sources on treaty lands and traditional unceded territories. CUPE’s Water is life campaign challenges environmental racism and supports Indigenous peoples as water stewards and protectors.

CUPE’s Water is life campaign is all about listening, learning and building solidarity. CUPE members are allies in this struggle. Visit cupe.ca/water-is-life to learn more and share with your local and in your community. Watch for more resources and updates soon.

Campaign artwork by Aaron Paquette.