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PEI tables largest health care budget with focus on health care training

April 11, 2025

PEI tables largest health care budget with focus on health care training

 

April 11, 2025 – The Prince Edward Island Government allocated over $1 billion to health authority spending for its 2025-26 budget, surpassing the billion-dollar mark for the first time. This budget prioritizes investments in primary care, long-term care, and hospital backlogs, aligning with the substantial health care investments made by other Atlantic Canada provinces in recent years.

In the budget address tabled Thursday, Finance Minister Jill Burridge presented a budget that included $1.24 billion in spending on health, representing a 10.4% increase over last year and about a third of the total $3.5 billion budget. This includes $1.08 billion toward Health PEI, the first time the provincial health authority’s budget has crested that mark, and $166 million for services offered directly through the Department of Health and Wellness.

Overall, the province is forecasting a $151.9 million deficit, before the $32 million Tariff and Trade Contingency Fund is included.

Key Takeaways

  • Health PEI spending at highest level ever: The province’s only health authority will receive an increase of more than $103 million, much of which is being assigned to key priority areas including growth in primary care staffing.
  • Significant progress in training and retention: The health care budget includes new programs that bridge training for Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) to become Registered Nurses (RNs), programs to certify international nurses and physicians, and upskilling health care staff.

  • Long-term-care beds promised: Funding for 103 new long-term care beds, with plans to add an additional 175 beds in the future, headline investments in seniors care, along with $4 million for home-based care programs.

  • Medical school funding: In preparation for its first cohort in Fall 2025, the provincial government is awarding $16.8 million to support the UPEI Faculty of Medicine.

Health Care Highlights

Staffing Support

Staffing levels have been the central challenge on PEI since pre-pandemic, and the 2025-26 budget includes a list of innovations meant to not only recruit staff, but help to train them in new ways. Highlights include: 

  • $1.1 million toward expanding health care training support programs to create a 29-week Accelerated Medical Administrative Support Program and continue to provide Island students studying to become paramedics, resident care workers, or licensed practical nurses free tuition with a commitment to work after graduation.

  • $500,000 to expand the Student Nursing Employment Program to hire students to work year-round alongside experienced professionals during weekends.
  • $650,000 to hiring internationally trained Registered Nurses.

  • $215,000 to launch a pathway enabling LPNs to train and become RNs while staying in the  workforce.

  • $16.8 million to fund the  UPEI Faculty of Medicine, which welcomes its first 20 students this fall.

  • Launching a Practice Readiness Assessment Program to certify up to 40 internationally trained physicians each year.

Continuing to Grow Team-Based Care

The budget includes funding to expand primary care, through growing the province’s team-based care model, based on collaborative health centres called Patient Medical Homes. The budget speech promised to have 10,000 patients affiliated with a Patient Medical Home this year. The province has approximately 38,000 patients waiting for a provider, a number that has been growing in step with population growth on the island, despite the province hiring 41 more physicians last year.

Expanded Virtual Care

Approximately $4.8 million was earmarked to expand the virtual care program, to provide all residents with access to care through phone, video, or text – a key election promise that has been expected for several years. 

The new program is expected to expand access beyond the current Unaffiliated Virtual Care program, which only services patients without a primary care provider.

Long-Term Care Investments and Home Care Support

The province committed to increasing per diem rates for private long-term care homes and funding for 103 new long-term care beds, with plans to add an additional 175 beds in the future. The government also committed an additional $4 million to help seniors stay at home longer, including making the heavily used Self-Managed Care program permanent and expanding the At Home Caregiver Benefit program, for a total investment of over $10 million in programs.