441-00571 (Health)

Primary care is the backbone of high-performing health care, serving as Canadians’ first point of contact with the system and playing a critical role in the delivery of health services. We understand that Canadians still struggle to secure timely access to regular primary care provider or team. Approximately 14% of Canadians aged 12 years and older lack a regular primary health care provider, and people living in rural communities can have an even harder time accessing high-quality primary care in a timely manner. The COVID-19 pandemic only exacerbated these challenges; health care workers bore the brunt of the extreme pressures of the health system, leading to significant vacancies, shortages, stress and burnout.

Improving primary care access and working toward a future in which all Canadians and residents have timely access to a primary care provider or team is a key priority for the government. Our government continues to partner with the provinces and territories on this critical issue, building on a foundation of FPT collaboration initiated during the pandemic. In March 2020, the Federal-Provincial-Territorial (FPT) Virtual Care and Digital Health Table was struck, to facilitate collaboration on ways to maintain access to the health system through virtual care. Supported by the strong collaboration of this FPT Table, the government began flowing $240.5M to help Canadian health systems support access to health care services, including primary care, through virtual approaches and digital tools. Of this, $150M is flowing directly to provinces and territories through bilateral agreements to address the challenges of delivering health care during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. As well, by virtue of the strong collaboration of that same FPT Table, Health Canada is also supporting a two-year project, led by the Centre for Digital Health Evaluation, to evaluate the benefits of virtual care and support capacity building within provinces and territories.

Like other countries, Canada is facing significant challenges in recruiting and retaining health workers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.  High patient loads, absenteeism due to illness, and fear for personal safety have led to unprecedented levels of burnout, absences, and turnover. This builds on longstanding issues which limit Canada’s ability to recruit, retain and appropriately plan for the health workers we need. These are real issues that require thoughtful discussions. Canadians expect the federal, provincial and territorial governments to work together to make meaningful change and support the health workforce in this country.

Our government is working with provincial and territorial to share best practices and identify opportunities to scale and spread promising practices across the country. We have also been engaging with health system partners and stakeholders over recent months to further understand the health workforce gaps and needs, and work collaboratively to identify concrete solutions to address the challenges and to deliver results for Canadians, their families and our health care workers.

The Government has taken action to address key concerns voiced by health care providers, including:

• Amendments to the Criminal Code (under the former Bill C-3), in order to ensure health care workers are safe and free from threats, violence and harassment.
• Budget 2022 provided $26.2 million in funding to increase the forgivable amount of student loans for doctors and nurses who practise in rural and remote communities. This will mean up to $30,000 in loan forgiveness for nurses and up to $60,000 in loan forgiveness for doctors working in underserved rural or remote communities. It also proposes expanding the list of eligible professionals under the program in order to help bring more health care workers to the communities who need them most.
• Budget 2022 provided an additional $140 million over two years to the Wellness Together Canada (WTC) portal, which offers free, confidential mental health and substance use tools and services for frontline health care workers. These online services can also be accessed through PocketWell, WTC companion app.
• Additionally, Budget 2022 provided $115 million over five years, with $30 million ongoing, to expand the Foreign Credential Recognition Program and help up to 11,000 internationally trained health care professionals per year get their credentials recognized and find work in their field. It will also support projects — including 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.
• This is in addition to a $2 billion top-up to the Canada Health Transfer, provided to provinces and territories, to reduce backlogs caused by COVID-19. This is helping to support the health and well-being of Canadians and those on the frontlines of our health care system. This investment supplements the Budget 2021 investment of $4 billion through the Canada Health Transfer to help provinces and territories address immediate health care system pressures.

Through these various activities, our government continues to work with provinces and territories to help Canadians have timely access to a regular primary care provider or team, as best suits their respective challenges and contexts. Going forward, we are committed to continuing that record of collaboration to building on progress already made in order to advance Canadians’ priority of better access to primary care.