Vol. 142, No. 26 — December 24, 2008

Registration

SOR/2008-312 December 12, 2008

FEDERAL-PROVINCIAL FISCAL ARRANGEMENTS ACT

Regulations Amending the Canada Health Transfer and Canada Social Transfer Regulations

P.C. 2008-1903 December 12, 2008

Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Finance, pursuant to section 40 (see footnote a) of the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act (see footnote b), hereby makes the annexed Regulations Amending the Canada Health Transfer and Canada Social Transfer Regulations.

REGULATIONS AMENDING THE CANADA HEALTH TRANSFER AND CANADA SOCIAL TRANSFER REGULATIONS

AMENDMENTS

1. The title of the Canada Health Transfer and Canada Social Transfer Regulations (see footnote 1) is replaced by the following:

CANADA HEALTH TRANSFER, CANADA SOCIAL TRANSFER AND WAIT TIMES REDUCTION TRANSFER REGULATIONS

2. The definition “transfer payment” in section 1 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

“transfer payment” means payment of the Canada Health Transfer, Canada Social Transfer or Wait Times Reduction Transfer under the Act, as the case may be. (paiement de transfert)

3. Section 2 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

2. For the purposes of Parts V and V.1 of the Act and for the purposes of these Regulations, the manner in which the Chief Statistician of Canada shall determine the population of a province for a fiscal year is by basing that determination on Statistics Canada’s official estimate of the population of the province on June 1 of that fiscal year.

4. (1) The portion of paragraph 4(1)(a) of the Regulations before subparagraph (i) is replaced by the following:

(a) shall make an estimate of the amount of the transfer payment related to the Canada Health Transfer and the Canada Social Transfer to a province for each fiscal year in the period beginning on April 1, 2004 and ending on March 31, 2007,

(2) The portion of paragraph 4(1)(a.1) of the Regulations before subparagraph (i) is replaced by the following:

(a.1) shall make an estimate of the amount of the transfer payment related to the Canada Health Transfer to a province for each fiscal year in the period beginning on April 1, 2007 and ending on March 31, 2014,

(3) The portion of paragraph 4(1)(a.2) of the Regulations before subparagraph (i) is replaced by the following:

(a.2) shall make an estimate of the amount of the transfer payment related to the Canada Social Transfer to a province for each fiscal year in the period beginning on April 1, 2007 and ending on March 31, 2014,

(4) Subsection 4(1) of the Regulations is amended by adding the following after paragraph (a.2):

(a.3) shall make an estimate of the amount of the transfer payment related to the Wait Times Reduction Transfer to a province for each fiscal year in the period beginning on April 1, 2009 and ending on March 31, 2014, during the period beginning on September 1 and ending on December 31 prior to that fiscal year;

(5) The portion of paragraph 4(1)(b) of the Regulations before subparagraph (i) is replaced by the following:

(b) shall, if there is new information available that may have a significant effect on the amount of the transfer payment related to the Canada Health Transfer or Canada Social Transfer to a province, alter an estimate of the amount of the Canada Health Transfer or Canada Social Transfer payment to be made to each province for any of the fiscal years specified in paragraphs (a) to (a.2)

(6) Subsection 4(1) of the Regulations is amended by striking out “and” at the end of paragraph (a.2) and by adding “and” at the end of paragraph (b) and by adding the following after paragraph (b):

(c) shall, if there is new information available that may have a significant effect on the amount of the transfer payment related to the Wait Times Reduction Transfer to a province, alter an estimate of the amount of the Wait Times Reduction Transfer payment to be made to each province for any of the fiscal years specified in paragraph (a.3) during any period beginning on the first day of the final month of a quarter and ending on the 12th day of the subsequent quarter, until such time as the final computation under subsection 5(2) is completed.

(7) Subsection 4(2) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(2) If an estimate made under subparagraph (1)(a)(i), (a.1)(i) or (i.1) or (a.2)(i) or (i.1) or paragraph (a.3) establishes that a transfer payment is to be made to a province for a fiscal year, the Minister shall pay to the province, on account of the final payment for the fiscal year, an amount equal to 1/24 of the amount so estimated on the first and 3rd working days after the 15th calendar day of each month in that fiscal year.

(8) The portion of subsection 4(3) of the Regulations before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

(3) If an estimate made under any of subparagraphs (1)(a)(ii) or (iii), (a.1)(ii), (a.2)(ii), (b)(i) or paragraph (c) establishes that the amount payable to the province under the immediately preceding estimate for that fiscal year should be revised, the Minister shall

5. (1) Paragraphs 5(1.1)(a) and (b) of the French version of the Regulations are replaced by the following:

a) à l’égard du Transfert canadien en matière de santé, pour chaque exercice compris dans la période débutant le 1^er avril 2004 et se terminant le 31 mars 2014, dans les trente mois suivant la fin de l’exercice;

b) à l’égard du Transfert canadien en matière de programmes sociaux, pour chaque exercice compris dans la période :

(i) débutant le 1^er avril 2004 et se terminant le 31 mars 2007, dans les trente mois suivant la fin de l’exercice,

(ii) débutant le 1^er avril 2007 et se terminant le 31 mars 2014, dans les six mois suivant la fin de l’exercice.

(2) Subsection 5(1.1) of the Regulations is amended by striking out “and” at the end of paragraph (a), by adding “and” at the end of paragraph (b) and by adding the following after paragraph (b):

(c) for the Wait Times Reduction Transfer for each fiscal year in the period beginning on April 1, 2009 and ending on March 31, 2014, not later than six months before the end of that fiscal year.

(3) Subsection 5(3) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(3) If a final computation made under subsection (2) establishes that there remains an amount payable to a province for a fiscal year, the Minister shall

(a) in the case of the Canada Health Transfer or the Canada Social Transfer, pay to the province the amount; and

(b) in the case of the Wait Times Reduction Transfer, adjust the remaining payments referred to in subsection 4(2) for that fiscal year in accordance with the final computation, beginning with the first payment in the month after the month during which that final computation was calculated.

COMING INTO FORCE

6. These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.

REGULATORY IMPACT
ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)

Description

The Regulations Amending theCanada Health Transfer and Canada Social Transfer Regulations (the “Regulations”) add specifications for the source of population data and the time and manner for determining and making payments for funding under the Wait Times Reduction Transfer (WTRT) starting in 2009-10, as authorized by the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act, ensuring consistency with existing regulations for the Canada Health Transfer (CHT) and Canada Social Transfer (CST).

A WTRT was established for the purposes of assisting the provinces and territories to reduce wait times according to their respective priorities, as specified in the September 2004 10-Year Plan to Strengthen Health Care. Funding is provided through two mechanisms: $4.25 billion through a third-party trust for 2004-05 to 2008-09, which has already been paid out in full to provinces and territories; and new funding of $1.25 billion, or $250 million annually, to provinces and territories starting in 2009-10 and ending in 2013-14.

Legislation amending the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act to implement the WTRT received Royal Assent on March 23, 2005.

The Regulations are required to address technical issues associated with the introduction of direct WTRT payments of $250 million per year starting in 2009-10, ensuring consistency across the CHT, CST and WTRT in program administration. In keeping with the Budget 2007 commitment to make all transfers simple, predictable and stable, and to better serve governments’ budget-planning needs, the Regulations would specify:

(1) Manner of determining population for the purpose of calculating the annual allocation of the WTRT from 2009-10 to 2013-14 by province and territory is to be based on data provided by Statistics Canada for June 1 of each year; the same data applied to CHT and CST calculations;

(2) Estimate cycle for WTRT to follow a simplified CST cycle, consisting of two annual fall estimates—one initial estimate in the fall prior to the payment year and a final computation six months prior to the end of the payment year;

(3) Payments cycle to follow CHT and CST cycle already established, consisting of bi-monthly payments throughout the fiscal year, starting in April 2009.

Consequential amendments are also made to terminology in the French version of the former Canada Health Transfer and Canada Social Transfer Regulations to enhance consistency with terminology in the English version.

Alternatives

There is no other alternative to amending the Canada Health Transfer and Canada Social Transfer Regulations.

The Regulations are required to facilitate payment of the WTRT from 2009-10 to 2013-14, as authorized by the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act.

Incorporating the WTRT into the Canada Health Transfer and Canada Social Transfer Regulations ensures simple, transparent and consistent administration of the CHT, CST and WTRT.

Benefits and costs

The Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act sets out the cash amounts for the WTRT starting in 2009-10 (s. 24.64) as follows:

$M	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14
WTRT	250	250	250	250	250

Consultation

The Department of Finance Canada has conducted consultations with provinces and territories on the Regulations. These consultations began on May 22, 2008 with a presentation to senior federal-provincial-territorial government officials to provide information and elicit feedback on a manner of determining population, an estimate cycle and payment cycle for the WTRT. Following this initial meeting, further consultations took place in the fall between federal, provincial and territorial officials to provide an opportunity to raise any questions or concerns on the Regulations.

Throughout the consultation process, provinces and territories have expressed their support for the amendments. Since the amendments are strictly of an administrative housekeeping nature, similar to regulatory amendments applied to the CHT and CST in the fall of 2007, this proposal is not expected to engender any negative reaction from provincial and territorial governments.

Compliance and enforcement

Not applicable.

Contact

Monika Bertrand
Department of Finance
Federal-Provincial Relations Division
L’Esplanade Laurier
140 O’Connor Street, East Tower, 15th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0G5
Telephone: 613-943-0916

Footnote a
S.C. 2007, c. 35, s. 168

Footnote b
R.S., c. F-8; S.C. 1995, c. 17, s. 45(1)

Footnote 1
SOR/2004-62

NOTICE:
The format of the electronic version of this issue of the Canada Gazette was modified in order to be compatible with extensible hypertext markup language (XHTML 1.0 Strict).