This article presents some of what we currently know to begin to address some of the crucial questions facing Canadians today: Does Canada have enough interested individuals with the right skills who want to work in the health sector? Does it have the infrastructure, capacity, and effective education system to ensure an adequate supply of health workers to meet future health care demands?

Using current major Statistics Canada data sources related to the education of Canadians, this article reveals some important information about what happens before, during and after health education. It focuses on the interest of youth in health occupations, the characteristics of students and faculty in university health programs, the labour market experiences of recent graduates from these programs, and the ongoing participation of health workers in formal and informal training.