441-00867 (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 a regular primary care provider or team. Over 14% of Canadians aged 12 years and older lack a regular primary health care provider, and people living in rural and remote 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 Federal-Provincial-Territorial (FPT) collaboration initiated during the pandemic. In March 2020, the 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 was set aside to flow 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.

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 that 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.

Furthermore, from the beginning of the pandemic, the federal government has committed to investing $72 billion to support health systems and protect Canadians. To address the health care workers shortage and access to care, some of these investments include the following:

• $6.5 billion in top-ups to the Canada Health Transfer, Canada’s largest federal transfer to provinces and territories, including $2 billion announced in March 2022 to continue to address immediate pressures, such as backlogs in surgeries and procedures (which supplements Budget 2021’s investment of $4 billion for the same purpose);
• $26.2 million through Budget 2022 to increase the forgivable amount of student loans for doctors and nurses who practice in rural and remote communities ($30,000 in loan forgiveness for nurses and up to $60,000 for doctors, with proposals to expand the list of eligible professionals under the program);
• $38.5 million over two years to support the training of up to 4,000 personal support worker interns to address acute labour shortages in long-term and home care; and,
• $115 million over five years through Budget 2022, with $30 million ongoing, to expand the Foreign Credential Recognition Program to help up to 11,000 internationally trained health care professionals per year get their credentials recognized, and support projects, including standardized national exams, easier access to information, faster timeliness, and less red tape, to reduce barriers to foreign credential recognition for health care professionals.

The federal government recognizes that it has a key leadership role to play in supporting solutions for the challenges facing health systems across the country and remains committed to continuing to work with provincial and territorial governments to protect and strengthen the publicly funded health care system. Our Government is working with provincial and territorial governments 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 health workforce gaps and needs, and work collaboratively to identify concrete solutions to address challenges and deliver results for Canadians, their families and our health care workers.

The Government of Canada recently established a Coalition for Action for Health Workers, which will inform immediate and long-term solutions to address health workforce challenges, so that Canadians can access the quality care they need and deserve. Skilled and supported health workers are key to ensuring quality health care, which is why the Coalition’s initial priorities will include providing advice on the following:

• workers’ retention so health workers continue to stay in their jobs;
• increasing the supply of health professionals in the country;
• improving health workforce data; and,
• opportunities to put in place new models of care to address key barriers.

In addition to investments and the Coalition, the Government has also taken other concrete steps to address key concerns voiced by health care providers, including:

• appointing a Chief Nursing Officer to provide strategic advice on health workforce planning, long-term care, and models of care;
• 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; and,
• investing $140 million over two years, via Budget 2022, for 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, the WTC companion app).

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.