The Honourable Kamal Khera, Minister of Health, has announced a series of initiatives aimed at strengthening Canada’s healthcare system by enhancing workforce mobility, accelerating licensure recognition, and expanding training opportunities for health professionals.
Minister Khera emphasized the need for collaborative efforts to ensure Canadians can continue to rely on the universal public healthcare system. To address workforce shortages and improve healthcare accessibility, the Minister proposed.
- Improving mobility for healthcare workers – Making it easier for health professionals to practice across provinces and territories based on demand.
- Recognizing U.S.-trained Canadian doctors and nurses – Granting full licensure to qualified Canadian healthcare professionals trained and licensed in the United States without requiring additional training.
- Fast-tracking credential recognition for internationally educated health professionals – Leveraging federal investments to accelerate the credentialing process and tap into the skills of internationally trained professionals eager to work in Canada.
As part of Budget 2023, the federal government has allocated $1.7 billion over five years to support hourly wage increases for personal support workers and related professions. Additionally, the government is working with provinces and territories to streamline foreign credential recognition for internationally educated health professionals and advance multi-jurisdictional credential recognition.
Minister Khera also highlighted the Coalition for Action for Health Workers’ efforts to address significant health workforce challenges and provide advice on workers’ retention, increasing the supply of health professionals, improving health workforce data, and scaling new models of care to address key barriers.
“With economic pressures mounting, we cannot afford to wait. We must act now to protect and strengthen Canada’s healthcare system together,” said Minister Khera.