Health Minister Marjorie Michel during Question Period on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Oct. 2.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Canada’s Health Minister wants to improve labour mobility for health professionals so they can more easily practise anywhere in the country, and she will raise the issue with her provincial counterparts when they meet this week in Alberta.
On Tuesday, when Health Minister Marjorie Michel was asked if she would introduce something similar to Bill C-5, which removed barriers for interprovincial labour movement but not for physicians and other health professionals, she said yes.
However, on Wednesday, Ms. Michel’s director of communications, Guillaume Bertrand, clarified that Ms. Michel misunderstood the question and that the government won’t be tabling legislation on the issue.
“While we are looking for the same kind of results as we have seen in C-5, when it comes to labour mobility for health care workers, we are not currently looking for legislation, but to make progress through collaborative work with provinces and territories, and by promoting the Federation of Medical Regulatory Authorities of Canada’s (FMRAC) proposed federated model for physician licensure,” Mr. Bertrand wrote in a statement to The Globe and Mail.
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The shortage of primary-care providers in Canada is a key concern for the country’s health care system. It’s estimated that five million Canadians lack access to a family doctor or nurse practitioner.
Interprovincial mobility is one of the topics Ms. Michel said will be on the table when federal, provincial and territorial health ministers meet in Calgary on Thursday and Friday. She said on Tuesday that reaching consensus among the provinces and territories will be crucial, however, because health care is ultimately their jurisdiction.
“Health care was not part of C-5, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t have to work all together to see how we can improve mobility,” Ms. Michel said on Tuesday.
Earlier this year, federal, provincial and territorial governments announced they had agreed to take down internal trade barriers and improve labour mobility in response to U.S. tariff threats. B.C. Premier David Eby said part of the eventual goal was to eliminate barriers so teachers, doctors and nurses could “move seamlessly between provinces.”
It’s currently expensive and burdensome for doctors to obtain approval to practise across provincial lines. Advocates have long called for reforms that would allow physicians to more easily move across the country, for example by introducing pan-Canadian licensure.
While some provinces and territories have hesitations about the removal of barriers, Ms. Michel said they remain open to the idea. She said the federal government would ultimately play a “leadership role” to help provinces and territories reach a preferred outcome.
“I think one of the challenges – the fear, I would say, from some provinces – is the fact that we have a lack of health professionals and they are just scared to lose their professionals to another province,” she said on Tuesday.
Ahead of this week’s meeting, the Canadian Medical Association (CMA), the advocacy organization, which represents more than 75,000 physicians, urged the federal government to introduce legislation focused on improving physician mobility, directly referencing Bill C-5 and calling on the government to “bring health worker mobility through the finish line.” The CMA said the current system hampers access to care, particularly in rural and Indigenous communities.
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Margot Burnell, president of the CMA, said in an interview Tuesday that the association would welcome federal intervention.
“This would help with the mobility of physicians across the country and would certainly help with servicing areas in rural, remote parts of our country.”
She said any action should hopefully encompass physicians, nurse practitioners and other allied health professionals who are in good standing. Appropriate safeguards would be needed to protect the public, she added.
Dr. Burnell said cross-country licensing has been undertaken in places like Australia and the U.S., resulting in 10 per cent to 15 per cent more positions in rural and remote areas.
That’s because it is not only easier for professionals to move across the country but it also “allows people to see new communities and to fill in for other locums,” Dr. Burnell said.
Ms. Michel said on Tuesday that Ottawa also wants to help provinces streamline licensing for immigrating physicians – an issue of growing interest as provinces and territories aim to attract workers who no longer want to work in the U.S. because of political unrest.
“Right now, there’s no alignment on immigration and the need for doctors,” Ms. Michel said.
The Calgary meetings will be co-chaired by Ms. Michel and Alberta’s Minister of Primary and Preventative Health Services Adriana LaGrange.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Health Minister Marjorie Michel wants to introduce legislation to make it easier for physicians and other health professionals to move between provinces. After publication, the Minister's office contacted The Globe and said there was a misunderstanding around the question of legislation and, in fact, the government is not seeking to introduce legislation, but to increase mobility through collaboration with the provinces and territories, and by promoting the Federation of Medical Regulatory Authorities of Canada’s (FMRAC) proposed model.