It’s tempting to treat the health workforce crisis as a math problem. More health workers are urgently needed. Providers are experiencing unprecedented exhaustion, burnout and job dissatisfaction. Patients are not getting the care they need. But the health workforce needs bolder action than addition.
Canada needs coordinated national planning for the right kind of care, in the right places, at the right times.
Current health workforce planning is siloed, focused on one profession or one single region. This patchwork also tends to ignore changing professional lifespans, demographics and population health needs. We need a planning strategy that reflects the reality of complex, interdependent health care labour markets. We need to create environments where people want to work and where workloads are manageable.
The CMA’s vision is a health workforce coordinated across health disciplines and specialties, geography, funding models, population health needs – and rooted in core principles of equity and Reconciliation.
Integrated health workforce planning would also support team-based care and inter-professional collaborations – improving outcomes for patients navigating an increasingly complex health system as well as addressing the increasing burden of administration and staff shortages on providers and empowering them to work to optimal scope of practice.
It’s time for a new blueprint for the health workforce in Canada. Without a national strategy, we can’t plan for the challenges ahead.
– Dr. Kathleen Ross, CMA president
Our work on integrated health workforce planning
Calls by the CMA and our partners across the health sector are moving the dial on a more integrated, national approach to health human resources.
In December 2023, the federal government launched Health Workforce Canada, an independent organization led by a board of directors including past CMA president Dr. Alika Lafontaine, to facilitate data sharing and planning for long-term, equitable and sustainable care across the country.
New funding agreements between Ottawa and the provinces and territories include commitments to scaling up physician mobility, providing new training opportunities, improving the availability and sharing of labour market data and expediting credentials for internationally trained health professionals ¾ critical elements to build health workforce capacity and support more agile, interconnected care at a national level.
The CMA is tracking these and other recommendations we’ve made to governments at all levels and will continue to advocate for comprehensive health human resources strategies.
76% of Canadians believe Canada doesn’t have the right number of health workers across all regions.
87% of Canadians want a long-term plan for the health workforce to ensure the right care, at the right time, wherever they live.
Source: Ipsos/CMA survey, September 2023
Our partners on health workforce reform
The CMA is bringing together many different players – professional and patient associations, educational institutions, regulatory bodies, health organizations, and all levels of government – to discuss and develop a national integrated health workforce planning strategy.
In October 2023, the CMA convened more than 40 national and provincial health organizations in Ottawa to resolve health workforce challenges, with further consultations to come.
At the 2023 Health Summit, the CMA invited the lead on the OurCare project, a national consultation on primary care, to talk about her findings ¾ which included widespread support for the expansion of team-based care across Canada.
With funding from a CMA Foundation grant, the McMaster Health Forum brought together organizations and citizens – including members from CMA Patient Voice– for a series of dialogues and panels.
When calculating future health human resource needs, serving all patients needs to be an integral part of the equation – including for those who avoid the health care system for very valid reasons.
– Michelle Hamilton-Page, CMA Patient Voice member and 2SLGBTQI advocate
Although our work is still at an early stage, working in allyship with First Nations, Inuit and Métis providers and communities is also essential to ensure equitable health outcomes.
What physicians can do to help
Collaboration with physicians and learners of all ages, stages and specialties, from rural and remote communities as well as big cities, is essential for a better way forward.