Question Period Note: DIABETES

Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Uncontrolled or undiagnosed diabetes can lead to serious complications and premature death. Those who have diabetes can take steps to control the disease and lower the risk of complications. Canadians living with diabetes may be at greater risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes.

Key Messages
• Our top priority is to protect the health and safety of Canadians. Our Government recognizes the impact diabetes has on the health of Canadians.
• Starting in 2021-22, the Government is investing $35 million over five years, with up to $15 million matched by JDRF Canada, to support diabetes research, surveillance and prevention, including the development of a national framework for diabetes and a Diabetes Challenge Prize.
• We are also supporting community-based initiatives that aim to help Canadians reduce their risk for chronic diseases, including diabetes, by promoting physical activity, healthy eating, and tobacco prevention and cessation.

Approximately 3.4 million Canadians are living with diabetes and more than 200,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. Some Canadians, such as First Nations and Métis people, people of African and South Asian descent, and people with lower income and education levels have higher rates of type 2 diabetes compared to the general population.
Healthy behaviours (e.g., healthy eating and physical activity) can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes and prevent negative diabetes-related health outcomes. Evidence demonstrates that there is an increased risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19 (both hospitalization and mortality) among Canadians with diabetes and those who are obese. COVID-19 is also having a disproportionate impact on specific sub-groups of the population, many of whom are at greater risk of suffering from the health, social and economic effects of the pandemic.
Government of Canada
The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) undertakes data collection and analysis of chronic diseases and their risk and protective factors, strengthens collaborations to better track disease trends and risks, and supports the development of policy and program interventions and prevention guidelines for primary care.

PHAC is also supporting community-based initiatives to improve health behaviours and address health inequalities among priority populations at greater risk of developing chronic diseases. In particular, PHAC’s Healthy Canadians and Communities Fund invests approximately $20 million annually and leverages additional funding from partners to support projects that focus on behavioural risk factors, including physical inactivity, unhealthy eating and tobacco use, that are associated with the major chronic diseases of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer.
To help Canadians identify their risk of diabetes and how they can reduce it, PHAC developed CANRISK, the Canadian diabetes risk questionnaire. CANRISK is accessible to Canadians through partnerships with Diabetes Canada, major food and drug stores such as Loblaws, Shoppers Drug Mart, Rexall and Pharmasave, and others.
From 2015-16 to 2019-20, the Government of Canada, through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), invested approximately $238 million in diabetes research.
This year (2021) marks the 100th anniversary of the discovery of insulin at the University of Toronto. The Government of Canada is working with stakeholders to celebrate this significant milestone. For example, in addition to a new Partnership to Defeat Diabetes with JDRF, CIHR recently launched an initiative with key partners to celebrate this event.
In Budget 2021, the Government provided $25 million over five years, starting in 2021-22, for diabetes research (including Type 1 diabetes), surveillance and prevention, and to work towards the development of a national framework for diabetes. As part of these investments, the Government of Canada, through CIHR, will recommit to the JDRF-CIHR Partnership to Defeat Diabetes, investing up to $15 million to be matched by JDRF Canada and its donors. The national framework will be developed in consultation with provinces and territories, Indigenous groups and stakeholders, and will help to support improved access to prevention and treatment, as well as better health outcomes for Canadians.
Budget 2021 also proposed $10 million over five years, starting in 2021-22, for a new Diabetes Challenge Prize to help surface novel approaches to diabetes prevention and promote the development and testing of new interventions to reduce the risks associated with Type 2 diabetes.
Parliament
On April 10, 2019, the Standing Committee on Health (HESA) released its report entitled A Diabetes Strategy for Canada. The Government Response to this report was tabled in Parliament on June 23, 2021.

In June 2019, the House of Commons passed a motion (M-173) designating the month of November as Diabetes Awareness Month.

On February 27, 2020, Member of Parliament Sonia Sidhu (Liberal – Ontario) introduced Bill C 237, which calls on the Minister of Health, in consultation with stakeholders, to develop a national framework designed to support improved access to diabetes prevention and treatment to ensure better health outcomes for Canadians. The Bill received Royal Assent on June 29, 2021. PHAC is developing an approach to engage key stakeholders and Indigenous partners for the development of this framework.

Key Facts
• Approximately 3.4 million Canadians are living with diabetes and more than 200,000 new cases are diagnosed each year.
• Some Canadians, such as First Nations and Métis people, people of African and South Asian descent, and people with lower income and education levels have higher rates of type 2 diabetes compared to the general population.
• Healthy behaviours (e.g., healthy eating and physical activity) can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes and prevent negative diabetes-related health outcomes.