(Charlottetown) Canada plans to address health worker shortages by making it easier for nurses and doctors to practice in other provinces, including streamlining the qualifications of internationally trained health workers and launching a new nurse retention program, the federal minister said Health.
Published yesterday at 6:57 p.m.
Lyndsay Armstrong The Canadian Press
Mark Holland outlined those strategies Thursday after two days of meetings with his provincial and territorial health colleagues on Prince Edward Island.
“Our plan for a strong and sustainable health workforce is shared across all levels of government and has dominated our conversations over the past two days,” Holland said at a news conference.
The minister said that while Canada’s health care system has much to be proud of, “it is also under great strain.”
“This is a time, particularly in the labor market, when we are facing a crisis and must rise to the challenge,” he explained.
Five-part plan
The minister outlined a five-part workforce plan that includes the creation of a “care retention toolkit” designed to provide employers with guidance on creating workplaces where care workers feel supported and want to stay.
The plan aims to make it easier for doctors and nurses to work in various Canadian jurisdictions, Holland said, and to speed up the process of certifying foreign-trained health care professionals by regulators to reach a 90-day service standard. A study of the number of health professionals trained in Canada is also planned to ensure there are enough to meet demand.
The strategy also includes strengthening and sharing standardized health data across the country to better plan future health workforce needs.
“This is critically important to ensure that we not only solve the health workforce issues we face today, but also to ensure we know exactly who we will need in the future,” Minister Holland said.
Improving the integration and exchange of health data is a condition of the health deal that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau proposed to provincial and territorial premiers in February.
Unconditionally, demands Quebec
Prime Minister Trudeau offered provinces and territories $196 billion over the next decade to improve access to health care. This funding includes increases in the federal health care transfer and individual agreements tailored to the specific needs of different jurisdictions.
In return, prime ministers must promise to improve data sharing and measure their progress towards set goals and targets.
British Columbia was the first country to sign the first bilateral funding agreement with Ottawa, and all other provinces accepted the health agreement in principle, except Quebec, which was reluctant to report to Ottawa on how the money was used.
Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé said Thursday that the issue was a sticking point for his province.
“The federal transfer had to happen absolutely; it is non-negotiable for us. We have said very clearly that health is a provincial responsibility and we stand by that,” Dubé said on Thursday.
A footnote to a federal news release Thursday said Quebec had not signed an agreement with the federal government and was not bound by the plan presented Thursday.
Dr. Kathleen Ross, president of the Canadian Medical Association, met with health ministers this week and said she was pleased with the plan’s goals to improve recruitment of health workers.
“There are so many great points in these commitments and the action plan developed today in Prince Edward Island. is really relevant,” she said in an interview Thursday evening.
demonstration
Before the plan was announced, members of the Canadian Health Coalition of PEI -P. The United States, the Federation of Labor and the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions demonstrated in downtown Charlottetown Thursday morning, urgently calling for universal pharmaceutical coverage and an end to the privatization of health services.
The federal government has promised to present a draft law on drug supply in the fall.
Asked what would be needed in the legislation to make a federal pharmacare program work in Prince Edward Island, provincial Health Minister Mark McLane said a one-size-fits-all model may not work and that discussions are still ongoing.