e-3378 (Health)

Petition to the Minister of Health

• Separate provincial and territorial licensing of medical professionals impedes timely deployment of health care workers across provincial, territorial and Indigenous borders in times of crisis, compromising accessibility of care;
• Reciprocal arrangements between these forms of governance, allowing health care professionals licensed in one to practice in another, including in the virtual space, at the invitation of the community, would contribute to the universality of health care;
• Abiding arrangements to allow health care workers to work beyond provincial, territorial or federal borders is preferable to emergency measures allowing the same;
• Conditional reciprocity for these licenses, dependent on a health care professionals intention to work with populations made vulnerable by systemic inequities, including Indigenous Peoples, newcomers, those without citizenship and in northern, rural, and remote locations, would allow for specific training to better meet their requirements, improving comprehensiveness; and
• improving the ability of provincial, territorial, federal and Indigenous governance structures to draw on qualified virtual help is necessary to keep such care publicly administered, and affordable.