Canadian Medical Association: Doctors in the House

Speech for
The Honourable Tony Clement

Minister of Health
and
Minister for FedNor

Canadian Medical Association: Doctors in the House

"Health Human Resources and
Canada's Health Care System"

November 21, 2006
Ottawa, Ontario

Check Against Delivery

Introduction

Thank you for your kind introduction, and thanks to each and every one of you for being here today.

I would like to welcome the Canadian Paediatric Society and the College of Family Physicians of Canada, and thank them for leading the Children's Health Workshop that has been underway these last couple of days.  I had the pleasure just a few weeks ago to address the College of Family Physicians of Canada conference, to discuss the role of family physicians and renewing primary heath care.

I would also like to welcome the Canadian Medical Association.  This summer, I was fortunate to meet many of you in Charlottetown during the CMA's annual general meeting. I am thrilled to see so many familiar faces again today.

At your meeting this summer, I outlined how we are moving forward on Patient Wait Times Guarantees.  I am pleased to say that we have made tremendous progress.

Our provinces and territories are working their best to achieve the wait times benchmarks that they agreed upon. 

As I have said many times already - and which I highlighted to you in August - there has been successful work done across the country to reduce wait times. 

In fact, in the new year at our Success Conference participants will have the opportunity to showcase what works best in different parts of the country, how challenges have been overcome, and to share their best practices.

As you may have read, yesterday I announced our country's first Patient Wait Time Guarantee pilot project for First Nations' mothers and children.  Working in partnership with First Nations, we are developing a Patient Wait Times Guarantees for prenatal care on reserves.

Canada's new government track record

This announcement is one of many things Canada's New Government has been working hard on for Canadians.  We are delivering on the priorities that are important to Canadians.  We are getting things done for you... and for your families. 

We've put more money in the pockets of Canadians by lowering taxes, and helped with choice in child care by giving parents $100 a month for each child under 6.

We have put forward a Tax Fairness Plan that includes an increase in the Age Credit Amount, and would permit income splitting for pensioners - delivering over a billion dollars of new tax relief annually for Canadian seniors and pensioners.

We've also introduced important new changes to Compassionate Care leave.  We've brought in incentives to help young people get into the trades through apprenticeship grants.  We've provided $1 billion for post-secondary education, and made an additional $1.4 billion commitment to affordable housing.

Last month I was pleased to announce, with Environment Minister Rona Ambrose, our Clean Air Act which provides an integrated, honest and accountable approach to addressing climate change and air pollution.     

With this plan we have chosen real progress over delay.  We've chosen transparency over rhetoric.  And we have chosen principle over politics.

We are not misleading Canadians... but we are taking responsibility and embarking on pragmatic solutions because we are focussed on improving the health of Canadians and the environment.

Our plan is the first to move industry from voluntary measures to mandatory reductions, and it ensures that we act immediately to ensure Canadian industry meets short, medium and long-term emission reductions targets.

And, of course, we are working to improve the health of all Canadians... and the health care system on which they rely.

The health of children, in particular, must remain a constant focus when developing health policy.  As Nelson Mandela once said, "Children are the rock on which our future will be built."

That is why I am delighted that we are making progress on creating environmental legislation that will ensure a healthy Canada for future generations.

Internationally educated health professionals initiative

Since coming to office, Canada's New Government has been working hard to speed up the process of getting money out the door and to the frontlines.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased and delighted to announce today that, through the Internationally Educated Health Professional Initiative, Canada's New Government is launching 5 new projects totalling $18.3 million dollars to help increase the number of health professionals working in Canada.

This adds to the more than $19 million dollars which has been provided to support 8 ongoing, multi-year IEHP projects that are pan-Canadian in scope.

Under this new announcement, The Province of Ontario will receive close to $16 million dollars to establish an Internationally Educated Health Professionals Centre that will assist IEHPs to access the information, education, and training required to practice and to expand the current level of assessment services. 

The Province of Manitoba will receive $1.4 million dollars to support projects that will result in simplified access for IEHPs to information on assessment, registration requirements, and employment opportunities, as well as build assessment and language skills capacity. 

The University of Toronto Faculty of Pharmacy will receive close to $600,000 dollars to develop an orientation program for IEHPs who work in 6 priority professions: nursing, pharmacy, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, medical laboratory technology, and medical radiation technology.

The Territory of Nunavut will receive a total of $305,859 over two years to provide an orientation and bridging program for internationally educated nurses in Nunavut.

And finally, the Medical Council of Canada will receive $100,000 to develop a common, standardized national knowledge exam and performance assessment. This harmonized approach to international medical graduate assessment will greatly help to streamline the process.

Canada's New Government is pleased to support these projects which will help ensure an adequate supply of health human resources and - by extension - help to reduce wait times for health services.

Autism announcement

I equally proud that earlier today, we introduced a package of initiatives to improve knowledge and research on Autism Spectrum Disorder.  Canada's New Government will not ignore the plight of individuals and families affected by autism.  Today's historic announcement will benefit the lives of thousands of children, youth, adults and seniors. 

No one knows what causes ASD.  However, we do know that in the last six years the number of children reported with ASD has increased by one hundred and fifty percent (150%).

We also know that there are even more adults with autism than children.  Autism is a lifelong medical condition.  However, significant improvements in functioning can occur with early behavioural and cognitive interventions.

Canada's New Government recognizes that Autism Spectrum Disorder is an important issue and we are committed to working with our partners - provinces, territories, and other stakeholders - to help those with ASD.

Growing Canada's health human resources

Canada's New Government understands the importance of physicians, nurses, and other health care providers.  You are the cornerstone of the health care system.

We all recognize how labour-intensive providing quality health care is.  The statistics speak volumes: the health sector accounts for approximately 10% of the overall workforce in Canada, and employs over 1.5 million Canadians.   

With changing demographics and increasing prevalence of chronic disease, there is a growing body of evidence highlighting the seriousness of the current and impending shortages in the supply of health care providers.

It is of vital importance that we take action now to avert shortages in the future.

That is why Canada's New Government is addressing the human resources issues affecting the health care community and today's IEHP announcement is going to help.

We are working with the provinces and territories to increase the number of physicians, nurses, and other health professionals.
Already, we are investing $20 million dollars annually to facilitate inter-professional education, to contribute to recruiting and retaining professionals, and to help forecast supply and demand for health workers.

In response, we have developed a Framework for Collaborative Pan-Canadian Health Human Resource Planning.  It provides guidelines for activities to enhance Canada's capacity to plan for the right number, mix, and distribution of health care providers, based on the health needs of Canadians now and in the future.

As well, Health Canada, together with HRSDC and Industry Canada, provided over $8 million dollars in funding to address the recommendations of the Canadian Task Force on the Licensure of International Medical Graduates.

Through a strong partnership between governments, regulatory bodies, academic organizations, and others, significant progress has been made to increase assessments, provide training, and facilitate the licensing and integration of international medical graduates (or IMGs) into the health workforce. 

For example:

• more IMG assessments were completed, and in Ontario, over 800 new IMGs had accessed a key phase of the assessment process;
• img-canada.ca, a central Web site that helps IMGs in their path to licensure and practise is widely utilized, receiving almost 400 visits per day from users across the world;
• a multi-media faculty development program to prepare teachers of IMGs was launched with 17 faculties of medicine across the country.

Our efforts to enhance capacity to build and maintain a sustainable workforce also encompass the Internationally Educated Health Professionals Initiative - or IEHP Initiative.

We all recognize that internationally educated health professionals are an important part of the health workforce, and that these individuals face many barriers in integrating into the Canadian workplace.

Through the IEHP Initiative, across the nation we are helping to reduce barriers and build bridges to help internationally educated health professionals secure their proper place in Canada's workforce. 

Interprofessional education for collaborative patient-centred practice

Finally, I have one other important announcement today... a $7.46 million dollar investment in the funding of 10 projects under the Interprofessional Education for Collaborative Patient-Centred Practice.  These projects support addressing systemic barriers, and the development and implementation of various facets of interprofessional education for collaborative patient-centred practice across all health sectors in Canada.

By investing in these projects, we are addressing workforce shortages and helping provide Canadians with certainty that they will get the care they need, when they need it.

Our collaborative efforts with provinces, territories, and stakeholder partners to integrate internationally educated health professionals will lead to a significant increase of up to an additional 1,000 doctors, 800 nurses, and 500 other health professionals who are able to practice their profession in Canada.   

Conclusion

Today, I have announced that we are adding more doctors, more nurses, more health care providers and more money for more programs to our health care system.  We are working with you, our partners, and the provinces and territories to deliver the health care that Canadians want, that Canadians deserve, and regardless of ability to pay.

My friends, I wish to once again thank the Canadian Medical Association, Canadian Paediatric Society and the College of Family Physicians of Canada, and all of Canada's physicians for the work you do to support Canadians.
 
Together, we are driving the evolution that our health care system needs to serve Canadians to the highest degree possible - giving them the return on their investment, and the results, they deserve.

On behalf of Canada's New Government, I wish you all continued success. 

Thank you.