Series consists of administration and case files from the National Health Grants program (1948 - ca. 1974), including the administration files from a prior conditional grant-in-aid program for the control of venereal diseases (1919-1932). These files were maintained in the 600 file registry block at the Department of National Health and Welfare.
In 1948, the federal government announced the National Health Program under which funds would be made available to the provinces to assist in the extension and improvement of services in specific health fields. The Prime Minister at the time stated that the program "represent[s the] first stages in the development of a comprehensive health insurance plan for all Canada." Under the program, the provinces submitted projects for assistance and the provinces assumed responsibility for the day-to-day operation of the funded projects. The funds took the form of "general health grants" and grants for hospital construction. General health grants were originally issued for: health survey, general public health, tuberculosis control, mental health, venereal disease control, crippled children, professional training, public health research, and cancer control. With time, new types of general health grants were added and others ceased. In 1952 the National Health Grants program was extended to include the territories.
The majority of records in this series consist of overall administration files from the National Health Grants program. Volumes 346-403, 408-415, and 1409-1412 consist of "National Health Grants - Administration" files organized by type of grant and by province. Those files were maintained in the 615- series of the file registry at National Health and Welfare. Volumes 416-426 and 1413-1417 consist of general provincial administration files; these files were maintained in the 620-3 section of the file registry at National Health and Welfare. A few "general" administration files are also included in the series.
Volumes 3754-3762 contain a selection of individual case files for General Public Health grants. Volumes 3764-3771 contain a selection of case files related to research conducted at the Allan Memorial Institute or related McGill institutions in the 1950s and 1960s. National Health and Welfare maintained the case files in the 600- to 611- series in its file registry.
Major changes began occurring in the National Health Grants program as of the 1967-1968 fiscal year, a year in which the Health Grants Directorate began administering certain grants directly to health organizations rather than solely via the provinces, and when new special grants including the Mental Retardation Research and Demonstration Grant were introduced. In 1969, the Directorate introduced a new program directed toward five major health-care-delivery problem areas, rather than general health areas. (N.B. This new program was also called the National Health Grants program.) By 1972, all the categories of grants included under the ambit of the original National Health Grants program had been phased out, with the exception of the Public Health Research Grant and the Professional Training Grant, and the Health Grants Directorate had ceased to exist soon thereafter.
The Health Manpower Directorate assumed responsibility for the administration of the Professional Training Grant during the 1973-1974 fiscal year; new the Research Programs Directorate administered the remaining grant types previously administered by the Health Grants Directorate, however in the 1973-1974 fiscal year the National Health Grant Program gave way to the National Health Research and Development Support Program.
