Trudeau invites premiers to Ottawa to talk health funding deals on Feb. 7

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that he’s invited premiers to Ottawa for a 'working meeting' to discuss a health-care funding deal, on Feb. 7.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has invited premiers to Ottawa for a "working meeting" on Feb. 7, to discuss reaching cross-Canada health-care funding deals.

The prime minister said Wednesday morning in announcing the upcoming meeting, that he views the gathering as a chance for federal, provincial and territorial governments to discuss an agreement—or series of agreements—that will see more funding put into health-care systems across the country, in exchange for improved care.

"It will be an opportunity to share with them our plans to support the health-care systems across the country, hear their priorities for investment, and start working together concretely to ensure that we're transparent about how this money is being invested," Trudeau said. "So Canadians can have the confidence that they'll get the high-quality health care they deserve, for years to come.

Momentum has been building towards a deal over the last few weeks, after premiers began indicating that they'd be willing to agree to funding with strings attached, seeing them held accountable for delivering improved care in exchange for more federal dollars.

Trudeau also confirmed Wednesday that while the federal government is looking at making a nation-wide agreement on data and health information, it appears Ottawa is also looking at signing long-term bilateral deals on a province-by-province basis that includes specific metrics relevant to each system's needs.

The shared priorities that both the federal government and premiers have been discussing include:

"We don't think applying a one size fits all across the country is the best way to do it. But, there will be elements of what we're working on that will be an agreement with the entire country," Trudeau told reporters during a press conference as his cabinet enters its third and final day of a pre-Parliament retreat in Hamilton, Ont., where they are plotting out 2023 priorities.