TORONTO, July 10,
2024 /CNW/ - Health workers are the backbone of the
Canadian health care system; yet, they continue to face increased
workloads and responsibilities. Now more than ever, there is a need
to improve health workforce planning and advance research to better
support health workers.
Today, the Honourable Ya'ara Saks, Minister of Mental Health and
Addictions and Associate Minister of Health, and the Honourable
Randy Boissonnault, Minister of
Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages, on behalf
of the Honourable Mark Holland, Minister of Health, announced more
than $47 million in federal funding
for innovative projects to help support Canada's health workforce, including:
- $22.5 million to Health
Workforce Canada to improve the accessibility of health
workforce data and share practical solutions and innovative
practices to address key gaps and implementation challenges in
health workforce planning;
- $13 million to the Medical
Council of Canada to operate
and expand the National Registry of Physicians to have a
centralized location of streamlined physician data to improve
informed decision making in the healthcare system;
- More than $330,000 to
the Federation of Medical Regulatory Authorities of
Canada to improve physician
licensing standards and processes in Canada; and
- $11.6 million from the Canadian
Institutes of Health Research and partners to teams that are
investigating ways to strengthen and support Canada's health workforce.
These investments will inform retention and recruitment
practices, support the mobility of physicians across Canada to help communities facing shortages,
and investigate solutions to strengthen the health workforce and
positively impact policy and practice. These initiatives will also
improve how information about Canada's health workforce is collected, used,
and shared to support health employers and governments in the
planning of health workforce across the country.
The Government of Canada will
continue working with provinces and territories and other key
partners to address health workforce challenges. Budgets 2023 and
2024 outlined the government's plan to invest close to $200 billion to improve health care for
Canadians, which includes supporting health workforce through
retention, recruitment, and planning.
Quotes
"Working together to support health workers is crucial to people
in Canada receiving the care they
need, when they need it. Through these initiatives to strengthen
and support Canada's health
workforce, our Government is working to improve access to timely
and equitable care and better health outcomes for people in
Canada."
The Honourable Mark Holland
Canada's Minister of Health
"Canada's health workforce does
incredibly difficult work, often in complex and stressful
environments. It is essential that we are there for our health
workers with the support they need, just as they are there for all
Canadians. The initiatives announced today will help us to better
understand and support the mental health and well-being of
Canada's health workforce so they
can continue to deliver high-quality care across the country."
The Honourable Ya'ara Saks
Canada's Minister of Mental Health
and Additions and Associate Minister of Health
"Providing quality care means building a resilient
healthcare workforce. Today's announcements do just that by
updating our data sharing capabilities while supporting and
expanding workforce planning. We're changing how we approach care
in Canada to produce better health
outcomes for all Canadians."
The Honourable Randy
Boissonnault
Canada's Minister of Employment, Workforce
Development and Official Languages
"System transformation to support a healthy and resilient
workforce requires a collaborative, evidence-informed effort
tailored to the needs of both workforce members and health systems.
These team grants are well positioned to bring evidence to bear on
this transformation and the hub is ideally suited to support the
timely dissemination, exchange, and uptake of evidence into policy
and practice. We look forward to witnessing the impact this
research will have on our health systems."
Dr. Rick Glazier, Scientific
Director
CIHR Institute of Health Services and Policy Research
"Enhanced information is needed to support analysis of the
issues everyone is facing so that planning, building and support of
a strong, healthy workforce can continue across the country. Health
Workforce Canada is working hard with our partners to strengthen
health workforce data, to improve access to timely data, and to
share effective health workforce innovations and solutions."
Deb Gordon, Interim CEO
Health Workforce Canada
"We are grateful for the Government of Canada's ongoing support of the National
Registry of Physicians (NRP). The first database of its kind in
Canada, the NRP fills a
significant information gap by providing a single snapshot of
physicians who are licensed for independent practice in
Canada and the jurisdiction(s) in
which they practice. For patients in Canada, this enables increased physician
mobility and that physicians will be able to offer care more easily
where it is needed."
Viren N. Naik MD MEd MBA FRCPC,
Chief Executive Officer
Medical Council of Canada
"The Federation of Medical Regulatory Authorities of
Canada is grateful to have
received support from Health Canada to contribute to improving
access to care. By optimizing physician licensing standards and
processes, aligning and streamlining standards for trainees, and
examining the successes and opportunities of the Atlantic Registry,
this project allows us to lay the groundwork for expanding
multi-jurisdictional registration and improving licensure for
international medical graduates and internationally trained
physicians."
Dr. George Carruthers,
President
Registrar of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Prince Edward Island
Quick Facts
- A February 2024 report from
the OurCare Initiative found that 6.5 million Canadians—about
22% of the adult population—do not currently have a family doctor.
The State of the Health Workforce in Canada, 2022 also confirmed a national
shortage of 60,000 registered nurses. Canada anticipates a shortage of 78,000
doctors by 2031 and 117,600 nurses by 2030.
- Funding for the new research investment is provided by the
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Social Sciences
and Humanities Research Council, the Canadian Partnership Against
Cancer and Michael Smith Health Research BC. This is CIHR's largest
investment in health workforce research, and the projects funded
through this program align with the key themes identified by the
Canadian Academy of Health Sciences
Assessment on Health Human Resources, which was commissioned by
Health Canada.
- This announcement is part of the Government of Canada's larger and ongoing efforts to support
the health workforce, including:
- A federal, provincial and territorial statement on supporting
Canada's health workforce which
outlines collaborative actions underway to address challenges
facing Canada's health workforce,
including reducing the time it takes for internationally educated
health professionals to join our health workforce.
- Welcoming the establishment of Health Workforce Canada (HWC), a
new, independent organization that is working closely with Canadian
Institute for Heath Information (CIHI) and all health care system
stakeholders to improve the collection and sharing of health
workforce data and share practical and innovative solutions.
- An announcement of a 50% increase to the maximum amount of
forgivable Canada Student Loans for eligible family physicians,
family medicine residents, nurses and nurse practitioners working
in under-served rural and remote communities. This change will help
approximately 3,000 doctors and nurses in the first year of
implementation, reaching up to 8,000 per year by 2032–2033.
- An investment of up to $86
million to 15 organizations across Canada to increase capacity for foreign
credential recognition of approximately 6,600 internationally
educated health professionals. This investment will support highly
educated and skilled immigrants receive proper recognition for
their international credentials.
- An investment of $3.5 million
over five years to the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of
Canada (RCPSC) to develop a
National Plan for Health Workforce Well-Being to help improve
health workforce retention.
- Initiatives to help internationally educated health
professionals put their skills to work in Canada more quickly, including $1.49 million to the Royal College of Physicians
and Surgeons of Canada to expand
and expedite the specialist Practice Eligibility Route (PER) for
International Medical Graduates, and $500,000 to the Medical Council of Canada to better understand the barriers to
existing programs.
- A plan, outlined in Budget 2023, to invest close to
$200 billion over 10 years to improve
health care for Canadians.
- The first-ever launch of category-based selection for
Canada's flagship economic
immigration management system, Express Entry. Category-based
selection allows Canada to issue
invitations to apply to prospective permanent residents with
specific work experience, including in health care.
- An investment of $2.4 million in
the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing (CASN) to support
the implementation and evaluation of a National Nurse Residency
Program which aims to support newly graduated registered nurses
(RNs) by helping them effectively manage the transition from
classroom to workplace through competency-based workshops and
mentorship.
Related Products
- Backgrounder: Supporting Canada's health workers by improving
health workforce research, planning and data
- Strengthening the Health Workforce for System Transformation
– Team Grant
- Strengthening the Health Workforce for System Transformation –
Team Profiles
Associated Links
- Health Workforce Canada established to improve health workforce
data and planning
- Federal, provincial, and territorial statement on supporting
Canada's health workforce
- Budget 2024: 2.1 Taking Care of Every Generation
- Health Workforce
- CIHR's Health Workforce Initiative
SOURCE Health Canada (HC)