Health Committee on June 20th, 2022

[Erin Connell]

Yes, so the pan-Canadian framework was published in 2009 via the Forum of Labour Market Ministers. It is a high-level document with a shared vision, guiding principles and desired outcomes. It has served as a piece that has guided actions both federally and at the provincial and territorial level. It has been a forum to share best practices and do occupational analysis to try to see where the gaps are at pre-arrival, at bridging and at credential recognition. Some of the actions coming out of this have included setting up fairness commissioners and review offices in certain jurisdictions. Others are projects to improve pre-arrival or focus on bridging.

It certainly is—

[Majid Jowhari, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Thank you, Ms. Connell. I only have another 15 seconds, if that.

Do you believe that the federal government could use the health transfer fund to be able to really get the provinces at the table to be able to address some of the huge gaps that we have in the delivery of our health care services?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Give a brief response, please.

[Erin Connell]

I think that would be a question best suited for our Health Canada colleagues.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you, Ms. Connell.

We now go to Mr. Garon for two and a half minutes.

[Jean-Denis Garon, Bloc, Mirabel, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

At one time, Quebec was losing doctors and health professionals because they were leaving to work elsewhere. Today, however, the federal government is really doing us a favour, since people aren't leaving anymore because they can't get passports.

Another problem with the federal government is immigration. It's putting the cart before the horse, in my view. This discussion is about making it easier to bring foreign professionals to the country, and yet, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship is the most dysfunctional department in the whole federal government. It can't even manage to get temporary foreign workers into the country on time.

That's why I'd like the witnesses to tell us whether they think a functional federal immigration department would make their job easier as far as the foreign credential recognition program is concerned.

[Andrew Brown]

Thank you for your question.

Of course, we have a federal immigration department. As a general rule, there is always room to improve the work of our departments. At ESDC, we work with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Administration of the temporary foreign worker program is an area of shared responsibility, one that involves Quebec's departments as well.

That's one way of addressing the labour shortage impacting the health sector. The other way is really to focus on Canadian workers. It comes down to finding ways to train people, in Canada and in Quebec, so that they can work in the health sector.

[Jean-Denis Garon, Bloc, Mirabel, QC]

Very quickly, I have another question, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Brown, the government allocated $115 million to the program, approximately $30 million per year. If I do the math, Quebec's share is $5.8 million a year.

You just mentioned the training of health care workers. That's an area where Quebec's departments of health and social services and education call for tens of billions of dollars in investment.

Does the government really think that the provinces will be able to solve the huge labour problem without additional health transfers? Quebec's share is just $5.8 million a year.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Please keep your answer brief.

[Andrew Brown]

I don't know how much exactly is transferred to the Province of Quebec for that program.

Ms. Connell may be able to provide more information on that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you, Mr. Garon.

Next we have Mr. Bachrach for two and a half minutes. We'll then go to the next panel.

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

This is a bit of a segue from my last line of questioning on data. I'm sure our witnesses will be familiar with the 2020 evaluation of the foreign credential recognition program that the federal government undertook. In that evaluation, the report states, “a lack of data on labour market outcomes of internationally trained individuals...is an impediment to measure the impact of the Program on the employment outcomes”.

In light of this finding from two years ago, what steps is the federal government taking to improve data collection on labour market outcomes of internationally trained individuals?

[Andrew Brown]

Ms. Connell, I'll turn to you. Thanks.

[Erin Connell]

Yes. Thank you.

Moving forward, we are strengthening our reporting requirements and our resultant outcome measurement of the organizations, provinces and territories that we fund. It's a measure of strengthening the results and reporting regime, so that we can accurately capture how effective the program is.

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

I assume that it will be easier to know when you hit that target of 11,000, because the provinces and the other partners will be reporting to you how many internationally credentialed professionals are making it through the program.

[Erin Connell]

Our project proponents will be reporting those results to us. It will be how many loans were disbursed, how many skilled newcomers participated in a Canadian work experience and how many skilled newcomers were helped by projects that support better foreign credential recognition. It's very specific to our projects and our project results.

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

However, that same evaluation stated, “The Program's ability to create systemic changes is limited since the provinces and territories have jurisdiction over credentialing for most regulated professions.”

What steps is your department taking to improve coordination with the provinces, territories and regulatory bodies on foreign credential recognition?

[Andrew Brown]

Thanks again for the question.

Again, this is one of the areas where it is really focusing on those different aspects of the program. It's looking at opportunities to streamline through consistent national requirements and exams, looking at streamlining the processes for recognition of foreign credentials and sharing best practices.

That is the convening role that the federal government is undertaking. It's meant to facilitate the recognition of foreign credentials.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you, Mr. Brown and Mr. Bachrach.

Mr. Brown and Ms. Connell, I want to thank you very much for being with us here today. We've spent a significant amount of time in recent months studying the challenges around the workforce in health care. If there is one thing that we've learned, it's that foreign credentialing is absolutely part of the solution.

Thanks for the work you have been doing in this area. Thanks for the information that you provided to us today, and for your patience with the late start. It's become more of the norm in recent weeks.

With that, colleagues, we will suspend while we have the next panel geared up.

The meeting is suspended.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

I call the meeting back to order.

We will now proceed to our briefing from Public Health Agency of Canada officials under our study of the emergency situation facing Canadians in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We're pleased to welcome, from the Public Health Agency of Canada, Kathy Thompson, executive vice-president; Cindy Evans, vice-president, emergency management branch; Stephen Bent, vice-president, vaccine rollout task force; Kimby Barton, acting vice-president, health security and regional operations branch; and Dr. Guillaume Poliquin, vice-president, national microbiology laboratory.

Thank you all for taking the time to appear today.

I understand, Ms. Thompson, that you're going to be delivering opening remarks on behalf of the agency, so you have the floor for the next five minutes. Welcome to the committee.

[Kathy Thompson, Executive Vice-President, Public Health Agency of Canada]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you for inviting the Public Health Agency of Canada back to provide an update on the COVID-19 situation in Canada.

We continue to monitor COVID-19 epidemiological indicators, so that we can quickly detect, understand and communicate any emerging issues of concern.

As Dr. Tam reported on Friday, COVID‑19 disease activity indicators, from daily case counts and lab test positivity to waste water signals, are stabilizing at the national level, with most areas continuing to decline.

Severe illness trends are also declining in most jurisdictions. However, the virus is still circulating in Canada and internationally, and factors such as virus evolution and waning immunity could have an impact on COVID‑19 activity moving forward. At this time, we are observing early signals of increased activity in some areas.

As we and Dr. Tam have said on a number of occasions, we are not expecting our progress to be linear. We need to continue to prepare in case there is a resurgence in COVID‑19 activity. This means we need to keep up with our personal precautions, including staying up to date with our COVID‑19 vaccines and wearing a well-fitted mask. This is especially important as summer approaches, and Canadians get together more and participate in larger events like fairs and festivals.

The steady improvements we have been seeing in epidemiological indicators have allowed us to continue to relax and pause some of our measures.

Last week, the Government of Canada announced it is suspending the vaccine mandate for federally regulated transportation sectors and federal employees. In Canada, we now have better levels of immunity from vaccination and infection, antiviral drugs are more widely available, and our hospitalization rates are lower, relative to when the mandates were first introduced. This means we're now better equipped to effectively manage the COVID-19 pandemic and reduce the pressure on the health care system.

The suspension of vaccine mandates reflects an improved public health situation in Canada at this time. However, the COVID-19 virus continues to evolve and circulate in Canada and globally. COVID-19 remains a public health threat. Our best line of defence against serious illness, hospitalization and death is staying up to date with vaccinations, including booster doses.

Because vaccination rates and virus control in other countries vary significantly, our vaccination requirements remain in effect at the border. This includes an existing vaccination requirement for most foreign nationals entering Canada, and the quarantine and testing requirements for Canadians and some travellers who have not received their primary vaccine series. These requirements will help reduce the potential impact of international travel on our health care system. They will also serve as added protection against any future variants of concern.

The Government of Canada is transitioning to a model in which testing occurs outside of airports for both random testing and testing for unvaccinated travellers. Random testing will continue to occur at land border points of entry across Canada, with no changes.

While we continue the fight against this virus, we are taking every opportunity to improve. We continue to learn from both our past actions and our evolving knowledge of the virus.

Although the agency was able to rapidly mobilize, and adapt and respond to the evolving COVID‑19 situation, as we move forward, we will look to strengthening our pandemic preparedness by building on the lessons we have learned.

As we look to the future, we are optimistic; however, we also need to prepare for various scenarios. In doing so, we will use science and data to help inform our response to new or evolving situations—just as we have done from the beginning of the pandemic.

We would be happy to answer any questions you have.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you very much, Ms. Thompson.

We will now begin with rounds of questioning, starting with Mr. Ellis, for six minutes, please.

[Stephen Ellis, Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the witnesses for coming, and thank you for your opening remarks, Ms. Thompson.

The data you're talking about, this elusive data we've heard a lot about, can you tell us what metrics you're using?

[Kathy Thompson]

There isn't one specific metric. We were really looking at a number of factors. For example, when I looked at the situation when the vaccine mandates were first put in place, there was strong scientific evidence, at the time, that the vaccines were preventing infection. They were working against transmission, against delta and alpha, and protecting against serious illness. There was a rapid acceleration of the delta variant. Hospitalization and ICU rates were very high, and the modelling was showing a strong resurgence at the time.

When we look now, comparatively, we have high immunity, both from vaccinations but also from infection rates. We have significant availability of antivirals. I mentioned the vaccination rates. Over 82% of Canadians are fully vaccinated with a primary series. We have lower hospitalization rates, and we're effectively in a better position now to manage the pandemic. That's why the decision was made to remove the vaccine mandates for public servants but also for the domestic federally regulated transportation sectors.

[Stephen Ellis, Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

The question is, as we've asked multiple times before, would you table that information with those metrics here with this committee? Since you have it at your fingertips, that would be great, within the next two weeks, please.

That being said, we talked about vaccine and vaccine effectiveness. Certainly, we know that the vaccines that are developed are against the original variant. With new variants of concern and vaccine effectiveness waning over six months, the health minister talked briefly about three doses being a fully immunized Canadian.

Does it make sense to continue to use these old vaccines?