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HealthCareCAN

The national voice of healthcare organizations and hospitals

HealthCareCAN
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    • Bolster Canada’s Health Workforce
    • Modernize Health Infrastructure
    • Support Better Aging and Older Adult Care
    • Strengthen Health Research and Innovation
    • Empower Lifelong Learning
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Bolster Canada’s Health Workforce

Header_WorkforcePage

Canada’s health sector has struggled to manage through workforce shortages for years, a problem exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. These shortages undermine the ability of the healthcare system to provide timely access to high-quality care for everyone in Canada.

The toll COVID-19 is taking on healthcare workers1A crowdsourcing initiative conducted by Statistics Canada in late 2020 showed that 70 percent of the 18,000 healthcare workers surveyed reported that their mental health worsened during the pandemic is substantial and will endure long after the pandemic is over.

HealthCareCAN‘s Health Human Resources Advisory Committee (HHRAC) is working to identify key priority areas for short-term and long-term federal action that aim to address these growing workforce shortages. Such concerted action is vital to ensure the country has the health workforce it needs to deal with COVID-19, perform non-COVID medical procedures and treatments, tackle medical procedure backlogs, and provide high-quality care to those who need it.

Healthcare workers are the system’s greatest resource, and when they are well taken care of, so are Canadians.

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What actions can Canada take to address health workforce shortages in both the short-and long-term?
Why must Canada address health workforce shortages in both the short-and long-term?
HealthCareCAN actions to address health workforce shortages

What actions can Canada take to address health workforce shortages in both the short-and long-term?

  • Implement a pan-Canadian health workforce planning strategy with the goal of gathering workforce data and developing solutions to tackle the shortage of healthcare workers and address the factors hindering recruitment and retention.
    • Work with provincial and territorial governments to establish a health workforce agencyThis pan-Canadian health workforce agency must examine opportunities to address health workforce shortages, including through education, credentialing, and scopes of practice. It must also focus on how to create a more equitable and representative workforce that reflects Canada’s population. to enable strategic pan-Canadian health workforce data gathering, research, planning and forecasting.
  • Leverage immigration and internationally trained healthcare workers to address existing health workforce shortages over the short- and medium-term.
  • Support interprovincial/territorial coordination of education and licensing.
  • Collaborate with provincial and territorial governments, regulators, and educational institutions to train more Canadian healthcare workers – particularly from Indigenous communities – in the professions and fields necessary to meet the long-term needs of the healthcare system.
  • Support the health, wellness, safety, and resilience of the healthcare workforce by expanding mental health and wellness research, programs, and resources specific to healthcare workers.

Eight months into the global pandemic, 33% of healthcare workers reported fair to poor mental health.

33percent

70% of health care workers reported that their mental health was “somewhat worse now” or “much worse now” compared with before March 2020.

70percent

56% of health care workers reported that most days were “quite a bit stressful” or “extremely stressful.”

56percent

Source: Statistics Canada

Why must Canada address health workforce shortages in both the short-and long-term?

Demand on the health system continues to rise as Canada’s population ages and people live longer, albeit often with more complex and chronic conditions. Yet health system investments and resources have not adjusted to respond to these changes. The health system is overloaded, understaffed, under-resourced, and underfunded, resulting in a system that is unable to meet the growing and diversifying needs of people in Canada.

Implementing a pan-Canadian health workforce planning strategy will:

  • Ensure Canada has a better understandingCanada does a poor job of health workforce planning, and a lack of a pan-Canadian strategy makes it difficult to ensure that the right number and type of workers are in the right place at the right time. This impacts patient care, leads to poor working conditions for healthcare workers, has economic ramifications for Canada, and perpetuates current inequities in the health system, especially given the sector has a high percentage of workers who are women, immigrants, newcomers, and racialized individuals. of the workforce shortage it is facing and the factors contributing to the shortage, helping inform the development of solutions to tackle these issues.
  • Allow for better insight into future needs and strategies to ensure Canada has the health workforce it needs to meet future demand.
  • Create a more equitable and representative workforce that reflects Canada’s population.
  • Help Canada’s health system meet the growing and diversifying needs of people in Canada.

Leveraging immigration and internationally trained healthcare workers while increasing the number of Canadian-trained healthcare professionals will:

  • Eliminate barriersThis includes aspects of the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), such as the time and cost to complete the assessment, certain thresholds that must be met to obtain a positive assessment not aligning with the current realities of the health workforce in Canada, and the credentialing process to recognize foreign training. that make the recruitment of foreign-trained healthcare workers – which healthcare organizations rely on to help address immediate health human resources needs – a significant challenge.
  • Encourage individuals to pursue healthcare as a career.
  • Ensure the country has the health workforce it needs to deal with COVID-19, perform non-COVID medical procedures and treatments, tackle medical procedure backlogs, and provide high-quality care to those who need it.

Supporting interprovincial/territorial coordination of education and licensing will:

  • Help reduce jurisdictional barriers to healthcare education and licensing.
  • Help ensure process efficiencies that were implemented to allow care providers to deliver virtual care during the pandemic continue.
  • Avoid a return to the dysfunctional pre-pandemic situation where numerous barriers and hurdles restricted the mobility of healthcare workers.

Collaborating with provincial and territorial governments, regulators, and educational institutions to train more Canadian healthcare workers – particularly from Indigenous communities – in the professions and fields necessary to meet the long-term needs of the healthcare system will:

  • Increase the number of seats available in university and college programs for all healthcare professions.
  • Expand access to Indigenous, and other equity-seeking groups.
  • Enhance support to maximize postgraduate training and internship opportunities.
  • Create programs that familiarize young people from across Canada – with a particular focus on Indigenous youth – with health sector jobs and providing financial and other incentives to those considering a career in healthcare.

Expanding mental health and wellness research, programs, and resources specific to healthcare workers will:

  • Help healthcare workers maintain their mental health and wellbeingIncreasing programs geared specifically to help healthcare workers through psychotherapy, needs assessments, peer support, and workplace mental health training and intervention services are only some of the resources that would help healthcare workers maintain their mental health and wellbeing..
  • Help researchers understand the long-term implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on Canada’s healthcare workers.
  • Inform meaningful actions to improve the retention of healthcare workers.

HealthCareCAN actions to bolster Canada’s health workforce

Recent and related letters, statements, media appearances, and press releases

Here’s what Canadians want as high-stakes health summit begins: ‘A significant shift’ - Interview with Dr. Michael Gardam, Chair, HealthCareCAN Board of Directors
February 7, 2023

Lasting health-care system change requires national human resource strategy, say health experts - Interview with Paul-Émile Cloutier, president and CEO of HealthCareCAN
February 6, 2023

Canada promised to fix health care almost 20 years ago. It’s looking to get things right once more - Interview with Dr. Michael Gardam, HealthCareCAN Board Chair
February 4, 2023

No more debates: First Ministers’ meeting on health must lead to action
February 3, 2023

Towards better mobility of doctors and nurses between provinces - Radio-Canada interview with Paul-Émile Cloutier (French)
January 26, 2023

Dr. Michael Gardam, HealthCareCAN's Board Chair & CEO of Health PEI on CTV's Power Play to discuss solutions for Canada's healthcare crisis (play at 28:54)
December 14, 2022

For a world-class health system, Canada needs to think bigger.
November 28, 2022

HealthCareCAN calls for political leaders to step up in wake of health ministers’ meeting 
November 9, 2022

Health care providers to Canadian governments: this is our prescription for hope
November 4, 2022

New Coalition for Action for Healthcare Workers an important step forward
November 3, 2022

Mental health is health: it’s time we act like it
October 3, 2022

HealthCareCAN President and CEO, Paul-Émile Cloutier, speaks of pressures on Canada’s health-care system in interview with Global News. Watch now.
September 18, 2022

A history of political inertia has contributed to today’s healthcare challenges. It’s time that changed.
July 28, 2022

Health-care advocates, premiers calling for urgent first ministers’ meeting to address challenges facing system’s sustainability - Hill Times Interview with Paul-Émile Cloutier, president and CEO, HealthCareCAN
July 18, 2022

Avec chaque nouvelle vague de COVID-19, le système de santé « s’effondre autour de nous » - Radio Canada interview with Paul-Émile Cloutier, president and CEO, HealthCareCAN (French)
July 16, 2022

"Our system wasn’t built to handle this constant and mounting pressure" - HealthCareCAN statement to CTV News
July 16, 2022

HealthCareCAN to First Ministers: Put politics aside, we need concrete action now 
July 12, 2022

An Open Letter from HealthCareCAN to the Council of the Federation on Building Back Better from COVID-19
July 8, 2022

Commons committee echoes HealthCareCAN health system solutions 
June 29, 2022

What's happening inside emergency rooms across Canada right now? Interview with HealthCareCAN President & CEO, Paul-Émile Cloutier
June 26, 2022

Recent and related government submissions and policy documents

HealthCareCAN submission to Finance Canada’s 2023 Pre-Budget Consultations
Health human resources / Infrastructure / Long-term care / Mental health / Pre-budget submissions / Research & innovation / Year 2023

Submission to the Standing Committee on Finance: Pre-Budget Consultations in Advance of the 2023 Federal Budget
Health human resources / Infrastructure / Long-term care / Mental health / Pre-budget submissions / Research & innovation / Year 2023

Newcomer Access to Professional Interpretation Services in Healthcare
Health human resources / Patient safety / Year 2022

Fostering inclusion of healthcare providers with disabilities
Health human resources / Mental health / Year 2022

Submission to the Standing Committee on Health: Study on the Emergency Situation Facing Canadians in Light of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Health human resources / Indigenous health / Infrastructure / Long-term care / Mental health / Research & innovation / Year 2022

Submission to the Standing Committee on Health: Study on Children’s Health
Health human resources / Infrastructure / Research & innovation / Year 2022

Submission to the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities: Study on Labour Shortages, Working Conditions and the Care Economy
Health human resources / Year 2022

COVID’s Tragic Toll in Canada’s Long-Term Care Sector Must Lead to Action
Health human resources / Long-term care / Mental health / Year 2021

COVID-19 Amplifies Health System Capacity Shortfalls
Health human resources / Mental health / Year 2021

Not Part of the Job: Ending Violence Against Health Care Workers in Canada
Health human resources / Long-term care / Mental health / Year 2019

You may also be interested in:

  • HealthCareCAN’s Press releases & statements
  • HealthCareCAN’s Policy documents & government submissions
  • HealthCareCAN’s Vice Presidents of Research Committee
  • HealthCareCAN’s Health Human Resources Advisory Committee
  • HealthCareCAN’s News
  • HealthCareCAN’s “From the CEO’s Desk” Blog

Our voice is stronger, together.

To become a HealthCareCAN member or learn more about our member benefits, contact us at membership@healthcarecan.ca

  • OUR WORK
    • Bolster Canada’s Health Workforce
    • Modernize Health Infrastructure
    • Strengthen Health Research and Innovation
    • Support Better Aging and Older Adult Care
    • Empower Lifelong Learning

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  • About us
    • Our Vision & Mission
    • Our Board of Directors
    • Our Strategic Plan
    • Our Annual Report
    • Our Team
  • Our Work
    • Bolster Canada’s Health Workforce
    • Modernize Health Infrastructure
    • Support Better Aging and Older Adult Care
    • Strengthen Health Research and Innovation
    • Empower Lifelong Learning
  • Our Membership
    • Our Members
    • Our Members’ Vice Presidents of Health Research
    • Our Health Human Resources Advisory Committee
    • Member Benefits & FAQ
  • News & Events
    • From the CEO’s Desk
    • Grants & Awards
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      • Excellence in Patient Engagement for Patient Safety
    • Events
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      • Great Canadian Healthcare Debate
      • H on the Hill
      • National Health Leadership Conference
    • News
    • Press releases
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