National Framework on Heart Failure Act

This bill requires the federal Minister of Health to develop a national framework aimed at improving how Canadians access prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing management of heart failure. It does not create new programs or funding directly, but sets out a process the government must follow.

The framework must address several specific areas: early and equitable detection and diagnosis of heart failure across regions and demographics; better education and support for patients and caregivers, including mental health resources; encouragement of evidence-based medical care, team-based treatment, and use of technology like remote monitoring and virtual visits; efforts to reduce care disparities, particularly in rural, remote, and underserved communities; improved research and data collection, including a proposed national heart failure registry; and the creation of national performance indicators to track outcomes, including patients' quality of life and functioning.

To build this framework, the Minister must consult provincial governments, Indigenous governing bodies, health professionals, researchers, patient groups, patients, caregivers, and other stakeholders, and must hold at least one conference with these groups within 12 months of the law taking effect. Within 18 months, the Minister must table a report in Parliament setting out the completed framework and publish it online shortly after.

Finally, the bill requires a follow-up report within five years of the framework being tabled, assessing how well the framework has worked, describing the current state of heart failure care in Canada, and offering conclusions and recommendations. This report must also be tabled in Parliament.

This bill requires the Minister of Health to develop a national framework on heart failure, consult specified groups, hold a conference, and report to Parliament.

• Who holds the power — the Minister of Health is directed to develop the framework, choose its specific measures, conduct consultations, and prepare reports; no new body or office is created.
• Content left undefined — the bill lists topics the framework "must include" (early detection, patient/caregiver education, guideline-directed therapy, a national heart failure registry, performance indicators) but leaves the specific design, funding, and implementation details to the Minister's discretion, not fixed in the text.
• Consultation requirement — the Minister must consult provincial representatives, Indigenous governing bodies, health professionals, researchers, patient advocacy groups, and other stakeholders, and hold at least one conference within 12 months of the Act coming into force.
• Reporting timeline — a report setting out the framework must be tabled in Parliament within 18 months and published on the Department of Health website within 10 days of tabling.
• Review — a further report assessing the framework's effectiveness, including the state of heart failure diagnosis and treatment, must be tabled within five years of the first report; no further reviews or sunset clause are specified after that.
• Enforcement and penalties — the Act creates no compliance mechanism, penalty, or funding obligation; it imposes only procedural duties (develop, consult, report) on the Minister.