Aboriginal Health Human Resources Initiative

At the September 2004 First Ministers Meeting, the federal government announced that it would be allocating $100 M over the next five years towards an Aboriginal Health Human Resources Initiative (AHHRI).

The AHHRI will have three main areas of focus:

• to increase the number of Aboriginal people working in health careers;
• to adapt health care educational curricula to support the development of cultural competencies; and
• to improve the retention of health care workers in Aboriginal communities.

Health Canada will work with Aboriginal, federal, provincial, territorial and health professional associations as well as educational institutions to develop and implement the AHHRI.

The AHHRI will build on the work already underway through the Pan-Canadian Health Human Resources Strategy.