By 2004, Cancer Care Ontario "identified palliative care as a priority area". In 2005 the Government of Ontario announced an "end-of-life care strategy" to be implemented by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to improve the availability of home-based and community palliative care services. The three-year project invested million to establish a hospice palliative care network in each of the 14 Local Health Integration Networks throughout the province, increase home care nursing and support services, and to expand residential hospices and their volunteer networks.