New Brunswick·NewPharmacare advocates say New Brunswick should sign a deal with the federal government or risk missing out on the money after the federal budget contained no additional spending on the program.With only four deals signed 60 per cent of the funds are committed.Silas Brown · CBC News · Posted: Nov 05, 2025 3:40 PM EST | Last Updated: 1 hour agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesHealth Minister John Dornan says the province is still assessing the potential costs of pharmacare. (Silas Brown/CBC)Advocates say it’s time New Brunswick signed a pharmacare deal with the federal government or risk missing out after no additional money was earmarked for the program in Tuesday’s budget.The 2024 program included $1.5 billion over five years, which is maintained in the budget. But with only four provinces and territories signed on, about 60 per cent of that money is already spoken for. “If they’ve missed the chance then that is an extreme failure to secure pharmacare for the people of New Brunswick,” said Green MLA Megan Mitton. “They should be fighting to ensure that the people of New Brunswick have access to pharmacare, and so far that doesn’t seem to be the case.”The first phase of the program includes contraceptives and some diabetes medication and requires Ottawa to reach funding deals with individual provinces. WATCH | N.B. reviews potential pharmacare costs before asking for federal funding:Some worry New Brunswick will miss out on pharmacare fundingWith no additional funding in the federal budget for the first phase of the pharmacare program, some are concerned that New Brunswick will miss out if a deal isn’t reached soon. So far, only Manitoba, B.C., P.E.I. and Yukon have signed on, but Prime Minister Mark Carney has said his government is committed to reaching agreements with all provinces and territories. New Brunswick Health Minister John Dornan says he would have preferred to see more money, but points out that there are still existing funds from the initial pot. He’s hopeful the province will be able to make its case soon.“We have not walked away from negotiations,” he said. “We are looking at what it would cost us to put in a pharmacare system in New Brunswick including diabetic pills, contraception and potentially some other medications.“We are costing that currently, and when we have that known to us, we will go to the federal government and say here’s what it will cost us, if you’re willing to contribute.”Jean-Claude Basque of the Canadian Healthcare Coalition is surprised New Brunswick doesn’t have estimates for how much the program would cost. (Silas Brown/CBC)However, Jean-Claude Basque with the Canadian Health Coalition is worried to hear that the province is still working out how much its involvement in the program would cost.“They should have that information, they knew pharmacare was coming, the department knew about it,” he said. “It’s really worrisome that after 12 months they don’t know how much it would cost them.”New Brunswick’s drug plan has annual premiums of $60 to $2,700, plus co-pays, depending on a person’s income.ABOUT THE AUTHORSilas Brown is a Fredericton-based video journalist. You can reach him at silas.brown@cbc.ca.
With no additional pharmacare money in federal budget, some fear New Brunswick will miss out
