Healthcare

We must improve our healthcare system by dismantling the bureaucratic barriers that prevent qualified professionals from practicing. Too many skilled doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers are unable to contribute to the care Canadians need due to outdated licensing processes and unnecessary gatekeeping. It's time for change.

Right now, we are facing a severe shortage of healthcare professionals. Over 6 million Canadians don’t have access to a family doctor, and many emergency rooms are being forced to close because of staffing shortages. Shockingly, 34,105 foreign-trained nurses and 18,900 foreign-trained doctors in Canada are unable to practice in their fields due to our fragmented and overly complicated licensing system. This system is broken and only exacerbates the shortages we face.

I support the call for a national, unified standard for licensing healthcare professionals, starting with doctors and nurses. This would be based on their proven abilities, not where they were trained. I am committed to working with our leader to advocate for the creation of a "Blue Seal" certification, like the successful Red Seal for skilled trades. This certification would allow qualified professionals to work across all provinces, eliminating the need for each province to maintain its own licensing process.

Under this plan, the federal government will collaborate with provinces and healthcare experts to establish a national competency body that sets high standards for healthcare professionals based on their skills and qualifications. The “Blue Seal” would ensure that anyone who meets these national standards could practice anywhere in Canada, helping to fill gaps in our healthcare system.

Additionally, a 60-day certification process would be implemented for foreign-trained health professionals, allowing their credentials to be evaluated quickly so they can start practicing sooner. This would streamline licensing based on ability, not bureaucracy, and improve access to care by rapidly addressing critical shortages of doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers.

You deserve a Member of Parliament who will fight the unnecessary bureaucracy standing in the way of the care that people need. Let's hire the doctors and nurses who are ready and qualified to rebuild our healthcare system.