N.L. says Ottawa won’t negotiate on pharmacare

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government has not signed any new pharmacare agreements with the provinces and territories a year after it was first elected, and one province says that’s unfair.

Newfoundland and Labrador Health Minister Lela Evans says the federal government stopped negotiating, and that her province has been excluded from a program it wants to be part of.   

The first phase of pharmacare was launched in 2024 and is meant to cover the cost of contraceptives and some diabetes medications. 

The Pharmacare Act requires Ottawa to negotiate the terms of funding agreements with provinces and territories.

The previous Liberal government inked deals with Manitoba, P.E.I., British Columbia and Yukon. 

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Tony Wakeham wrote to Carney in February to say the lack of new deals is creating a fractured approach — the fourth such letter he’s sent to Ottawa since October. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 28, 2026.

By Sarah Ritchie | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.