Senator Mégie: Thank you for that information. However, I also wanted to remind you that the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology conducted a study on artificial intelligence a few years ago. Representatives of the Canadian Association of Radiologists spoke about the need for artificial intelligence for both operations and diagnostics to help radiologists triage urgent cases and identify common results by automating the standard measures and reporting models.

Does the federal government plan to increase the percentage of health care funding allocated to the innovative project that links artificial intelligence and health research through investments in the Canadian institutes of health research specific to artificial intelligence?

Hon. Marie-Françoise Mégie: Honourable senators, my question is for the Government Representative in the Senate.

Senator Gold, the day before yesterday, parliamentarians had the opportunity to meet representatives from the Canadian Association of Radiologists. The association wanted to raise the alarm about the seriously antiquated medical imaging equipment in Canada and the need for strategic investment to improve access to medical imaging and, consequently, foster better patient outcomes.

According to the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health, the number of CT scan and MRI machines per capita is significantly lower than in OECD countries. In fact, Canada significantly lags behind international standards in this area.

Will the Government of Canada listen to this call for urgent intervention and commit to collaborating with the provincial and territorial governments to ensure that targeted investments in health are allocated to improving medical imaging services?