Mr. Speaker, it is a huge honour today to rise to table petition E-7298, signed by more than 22,000 Canadians, recognizing the essential role nurses play in our public health care system and the serious recruitment and retention challenges facing the profession. The petitioners are calling on the House of Commons to amend the Income Tax Act to create a refundable federal tax credit for registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, registered psychiatric nurses and nurse practitioners, modelled on the tax credit for personal support workers that was introduced in the 2025 federal budget.
I want to thank Linda Silas, who is a nurse, a trade unionist and president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions, for sponsoring this petition. I would like to highlight again that Canada is facing a persistent nursing shortage, driven in part by recruitment and retention challenges, heavy workloads and rising cost of living pressures. I hope that the government will act on this petition.