Health workforce

• Developed the Nursing Retention Toolkit: Improving the Working Lives of Nurses in Canada in collaboration with the nursing community, to help improve the working lives of nurses. The toolkit will be shared widely throughout Canada's health care system- including with nurses, nursing employers, and health authorities across the country.
• 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.

• Welcomed the establishment of Health Workforce Canada (HWC), a new, independent organization that will work closely with the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) and all health care system stakeholders to improve the collection and sharing of health workforce data, and share practical solutions and innovative practices.
• An investment of $3.5 million over 5 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.
• At the October 2023 Health Ministers' Meeting, a federal, provincial and territorial statement on supporting Canada's health workforce was approved, committing to take concrete actions to address challenges facing Canada's health workforce including collaborating on retention issues, undertaking a study of the education and training supply and demand for key health professions, reducing the time it takes for internationally educated health professionals to join our health workforce, increasing the sharing and standardization of health workforce data, and more.
• As part of the first-ever launch of category based selection for Canada's flagship economic immigration management system, Express Entry, Health Canada worked with Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) on category-based selection to allow Canada to issue invitations to apply to prospective permanent residents with specific work experience in health care. The Minister of Health and Minister of IRCC also wrote a letter to health regulators, advising of this new initiative.
• Announced an investment of $78.5 million in three projects that will help to train and retain more health care workers, under the Sectoral Workforce Solutions Program through Employment Social Development Canada (ESDC).
• Hosted the Nursing Retention Forum led by Canada's Chief Nursing Officer, with key members of the nursing community, to co-develop a Nursing Retention Toolkit
• Announced $2.4 million to 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.

• convened a stakeholder symposium in spring 2022 to better understand the challenges facing the health workforce
  • the summary report identifies potential areas for action and possible solutions to health workforce challenges, which Health Canada is engaging with stakeholders to refine and align actions.
• announced on August 23, 2022, that it had appointed Dr. Leigh Chapman as the federal Chief Nursing Officer for Canada, who will:
  • look at nursing issues from a federal focus
  • provide strategic advice from a nursing perspective to Health Canada on priority policy and program areas and work closely with provinces and territories, stakeholders and regulatory bodies
• established a Coalition for Action for Health Workers which will inform immediate and longer-term solutions to address significant health workforce challenges, so Canadians can access the quality care they need and deserve

Through Budget 2022, the Government of Canada announced $26.2 million in funding to increase the forgivable amount of student loans for doctors and nurses who practise in rural and remote communities. The list of eligible professionals under the loan forgiveness program was also expanded to help bring more health workers to communities that need them most.

Through the budget the federal government is also able to:

• provide another $140 million over two years to the Wellness Together Canada (WTC) portal, which offers free, confidential mental health and substance supports to all Canadians, including tools for frontline health workers
  • Canadians and health workers can also access these online services through PocketWell, the WTC companion app
• provide $115 million over five years, with $30 million ongoing, to expand the Foreign Credential Recognition Program, which will:
  • help up to 11,000 internationally trained health care professionals per year get their credentials recognized and find work in their field
  • support projects (such as standardized national exams, easier access to information, faster timelines and less red tape) that will reduce barriers to foreign credential recognition for health care professionals
• help reduce barriers to internal trade and labour mobility, such as in the health sector, by working with provincial and territorial governments and regulators to evaluate and, where appropriate, remove obstacles

The federal government also provided a $2 billion top-up to the Canada Health Transfer, to the provinces and territories, to reduce backlogs caused by COVID-19. This will help support the health and well-being of Canadians and those on the frontlines of our health care system.

This investment supplements the $4 billion invested in 2021 to help provinces and territories address immediate health care system pressures. This money is distributed equally per capita through the Canada Health Transfer.

• amended the Criminal Code (under the former Bill C-3) to ensure health workers are safe and free from threats, violence and harassment
• provided $100 million over three years, through Budget 2021, to support the mental health of Canadians who have been most affected by COVID-19 and an additional $50 million to help those experiencing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder due to the pandemic, including frontline and essential service providers.
• announced additional funding through Budget 2021 for Employment and Social Development Canada's Sectoral Workforce Solutions Program
  • program helps key sectors of the economy, including health, implement solutions to address workforce needs, such as labour shortages

Canada and the provinces and territories also collaborate on health workforce issues through the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Committee on Health Workforce.