BUDGET 2020-2021 - Press release no. 3 of 3 - Concrete measures for improving health services and meet the needs of Quebecers

QUÉBEC, March 10, 2020 /CNW Telbec/ - Budget 2020-2021 is an opportunity for the government to reaffirm its commitment to more effectively address the needs of Quebecers by offering accessible quality health services and providing vulnerable people with adequate assistance and support when they need it.

To that end, an additional amount of nearly $5.4 billion will be invested over five years in these missions. With initiatives totalling more than $1.0 billion as of this year, growth in health spending will reach 5.3% in 2020-2021. These investments will make it possible to fund various initiatives to improve, in particular, primary care services by adding more resources and enhancing support for community organizations. Moreover, new treatments or molecules, such as CAR-T-cell therapy for leukemia patients, will now be available free of charge for certain types of cancer.

Toward a youth protection system geared to each child
The government also wants to immediately address the increase in the number of situations of child abuse or neglect reported to the director of youth protection and to more rapidly offer young people in distress with the assistance and support they need. Therefore, an additional $450 million will be injected over five years to hire more resources and thus reduce waiting lists at the Direction de la protection de la jeunesse and ensure that available services are geared to each child.

Enhancing care and services for people with disabilities and their parents
To better support parents of handicapped children of full age requiring exceptional care, Budget 2020‑2021 provides for additional assistance measures totalling $126 million over five years. These measures will ensure, among other things, that parents have access to a minimum number of hours of home care service and enable their children to obtain more generous social solidarity benefits.

Additional investments of $250 million over five years will be earmarked for the special needs of people with a physical or intellectual disability or an autism spectrum disorder in order to offer them new models of residential and long-term care, continuous assistance resources and integration projects.

Providing greater support to women who are victims of domestic violence
To better support women who are victims of domestic violence, the government will be investing another $181 million by 2024-2025 to enhance and extend funding for the measures of the 2018-2023 Government Action Plan on Domestic Violence. It will thus be able to consolidate the services offered by shelters, better adapt these shelters and introduce priority actions in respect of domestic violence.

Increasing mental health initiatives
Budget 2020-2021 also makes it possible to continue efforts to increase mental health initiatives, in particular by rolling out local services geared to the different clienteles and providing more specialized services for young people experiencing their first psychotic episode. To that end, investments of $260 million is being invested over five years.

Enhancing senior care in CHSLDs or at home
Population aging creates more residential needs. Therefore, in addition to seniors' homes, Budget 2020‑2021 provides for an extra $140 million over two years to add 900 beds and spaces in Centres d'hébergement et de soins de longue durée (CHSLDs). These spaces and beds will be over and above the 900 beds announced last year. Another $100 million over five years will also make it possible to improve the quality of food served in CHSLDs.

In addition, the government is continuing its efforts to meet the challenges of population aging by investing $384 million over five years to, in particular, hire resources for providing more hours of home care and services to seniors who want to remain independent and stay in their homes for as long as possible.

A new refundable tax credit for caregivers
While the Québec policy on informal caregivers will be unveiled shortly, the government is announcing the introduction of a refundable tax credit of up to $2 500 for caregivers. This new tax credit, which will require investments of $532 over five years, will replace the refundable tax credit for informal caregivers of persons of full age. The tax assistance provided will be higher, streamlined, and available to a greater number of people. This tax credit will, in particular, double the amount of tax assistance provided to caregivers of a relative with a severe and prolonged impairment.

Fostering well-being in Indigenous communities
With Budget 2020-2021, the government is taking the first step toward following up on the findings of the Public Inquiry Commission on relations between Indigenous Peoples and certain public services and the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. An envelope of $200 million over five years will make it possible to implement measures deemed a priority, identified in concert with the communities.

Quotation:

"Québec's good economic and financial situation and our sound management of public finance are enabling us to adequately fund the government's main missions and to provide citizens, especially the most vulnerable, with care and services that meet their needs and expectations. They are also allowing us to devote more efforts to addressing worrisome situations affecting, in particular, abused or neglected children, women who are victims of violence, people with disabilities and Indigenous communities."

Eric Girard, Québec Minister of Finance and Minister Responsible for the Laval Region

Related link:

All the details of Budget 2020-2021:
http://www.budget.finances.gouv.qc.ca/budget/2020-2021/index_en.asp.

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SOURCE Cabinet du ministre des Finances

Fanny Beaudry-Campeau, Press Relations Officer, Office of the Minister of Finance, 418 576-2786