Thank you.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairperson, committee members and distinguished guests.
It is my distinct pleasure to be here today to present on this critical issue of health human resources and the specific work that this committee is undertaking relative to Standing Order 108(2), which asked the committee to undertake a study on how the federal government can facilitate the recruitment and retention of physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners and other health care providers to the public health care system, including a focus on northern and rural communities.
This is an incredibly important docket. It's also not a new topic. The call for comprehensive strategies to address the need for sustainable supply of health human resources has been the subject of numerous commission and expert panels at the federal level for decades, including the Lalonde report in 1974, continuing with the Romanow and Kirby reports in 2002, and additional work launched with Health Canada in 2005 to pursue strategies in four key areas: one, the supply of health care providers; two, effective use of skills; three, creating healthy, supportive and learning workplaces; and four, more effective planning and forecasting.
I believe all of our witnesses have touched on some of these points here today.
Pursuing these goals creates an ideal intersection of federal, provincial and territorial mandates in a number of ways.
First, past federal governments, regardless of the party in power, have sought to address barriers to recruitment of internationally trained professionals, often with initiatives aimed at supporting streamlined immigration and/or work visas.
I've had the privilege of being involved in planning tables, both here and abroad, and have often heard concerns raised about the ethics of recruiting internationally. The primary concern here is that we as Canadians should not be aggressively pursuing strategies in other countries simply to meet our own needs for health professionals at the expense of system sustainability in other countries. It is clear that we need to be conscious of that concern.
At the same time, there are several countries that deliberately train more people than they need as a way to help their citizens pursue careers internationally so that they in turn can send money home to support members of extended families. In these circumstances, global recruitment can help all parties achieve their goals.
Second, many provinces have already led work at the provincial level to retain health care professionals in the workforce by developing integrated solutions to enable truly inter-professional care teams.
I've personally had the opportunity to work with the governments of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island in those pursuits and can attest to the fact that provincial-enabled solutions help to get past barriers grounded in individual organizational silos and cultures.
The federal government can help coordinate these efforts on a national level, partnering with provinces and territories to understand local needs while driving toward a comprehensive pan-Canadian health human resources strategy. This does not mean that all solutions will be applicable in all areas, but consistency of purpose can enable local solutions to be created within an overarching context.
Earlier today, when we heard from the witness from CAOT, we heard about how different solutions exist in different settings, including those in the community, which are very different from those that happen in hospitals.
In the end, all solutions must enable the unique needs of the population being served to be met. This will be particularly true in designing solutions for northern or remote communities, which don't always have the same access to services that are routinely available in more urban settings.
Third, I believe the federal government has a unique opportunity to partner with indigenous communities to develop solutions that work for them.
In my career, I've had the privilege to work with some indigenous communities to assist with the creation of indigenous-led pathways and models that enable access to education and care when, where, and how they want to receive it. This includes supporting the training of indigenous people in a variety of health care professions but also assisting non-indigenous providers to better connect with and partner with indigenous communities generally, and indigenous patients and their families specifically, to support solutions, once again, that are defined by them, for them. What is learned through this essential work will help to define solutions for all people who live in northern and remote communities.
In conclusion, I think it's clear that we're in a difficult time. From a health service delivery perspective, it is well known that older citizens tend to have the highest usage of health care services. Given that the first baby boomer turns 76 this year, the need to respond to the needs of the baby boomer generation and the generation that preceded them, my parents' generation, is becoming more and more essential on a daily basis. These generations define the society we live in today, as well as the generations that follow them. They, as well as the generations following them, deserve nothing less than our collective best as we move forward with this critical work to create a sustainable health human resources supply.
When we think of the health care provider workforce, many of them are tired, burned out, frustrated and, as we heard earlier today, suffering on a daily basis—or a regular and consistent basis—abuse at the hands of the patients they are trying to serve.
The pace at which they are leaving the workforce is, simply, rapidly increasing at a level that we cannot sustain. The pandemic served to exacerbate the situation, but it did not create it. The trend has been shifting in this direction for years. We need to engage providers in the creation of new solutions. We also need to understand that as new professionals enter this workforce, both those trained here at home and those recruited from abroad, they need to be supported to thrive in the environments they will be working in.
My final comment is an ask of the people represented at this committee: We need multi-party participation and agreement to move forward in a unified manner. We simply cannot afford for health human resources strategies to become the next political football. We must work together on this.
Thank you very much.
