Ottawa – Today is National Physicians’ Day, a day to celebrate Canada’s doctors and health professionals who dedicate their life to supporting the health and well-being of our communities.
Physicians are a key pillar of our healthcare system and play a crucial role in the delivery of health services. Despite many challenges, including high patient workloads, long hours and physician shortages, physicians continue to work tirelessly every day to keep us healthy and safe.
We know that words of recognition are not enough. There is an urgent need to support physicians and address their challenges so Canadians receive the quality care they need, when and where they need it. This is why the Government of Canada is supporting health workers through its investment of close to $200 billion to improve health care in Canada, which includes a focus on efforts to support the health workforce through retention, recruitment, and planning.
The Government of Canada, along with provinces and territories, recently committed to take concrete actions to address physician shortages including collaborating on retention issues, undertaking a study of the education and training supply and demand for key health professions, reducing the time it takes for internationally educated physicians to join the health workforce, and increasing the sharing and standardization of health workforce data.
The Government is also adding a 50 per cent increase to the maximum amount of forgivable Canada Student Loans for doctors and nurses who work in underserved rural or remote communities. In addition, Budget 2024 proposed more than $77 million to integrate internationally educated health care professionals into Canada’s health workforce by creating 120 specific training positions, increasing assessment capacity and providing support to navigate credential recognition systems.
We recognize that the challenges physicians have been facing can have an effect on mental health and well-being, and that is why we’re providing $3.5 million to the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada to develop a National Plan for Health Workforce Well-Being. The ongoing work with provinces, territories, and health partners, along with the investments in Budget 2024, will also help us to continue to identify both immediate and longer-term solutions to address the challenges that health workers face.
Thank you physicians for all the hard work you do to keep people across Canada healthy, today and every day. – Mark Holland, Ya’ara Saks