Mr. Chair, I'll start by recognizing the incredible contribution that health workers have made through the pandemic and continue to make, and the challenges that they're facing, as Dr. Ellis noted and Dr. Lafontaine has spoken about in his role as CMA president.
As Minister Duclos noted, as part of its focus on a priority to work with provinces and territories in the health system, the government committed $2 billion to support clearing backlogs. Through that, they're recognizing that a critical element of that is support for hiring health workers.
Under the direction of the federal, provincial and territorial health ministers, officials have been working to support methods to retain and recruit, to support better data and planning, and to innovate in care models to support health workers, including increasing recruitment and supporting internationally educated health workers. This work continues.