Questions and responses 45th Parliament, 1st session May 26, 2025, to present

With regard to the "Statement from the Minister of Health on the Canada Health Act" issued on January 10, 2025, and described as coming into effect on April 1, 2026: (a) will this policy come into effect as of April 1, 2026, or has it been delayed, amended, or rescinded under the current government; (b) as of April 1, 2026, will a nurse practitioner who operates an independent primary care practice that is not covered by a patient's provincial or territorial health care plan be permitted to continue providing medically necessary physician-equivalent services, or will all such physician-equivalent services be required to be publicly insured and billed through the provincial or territorial health insurance plan with no direct charges to patients; and (c) how will the changes which come into effect on April 1, 2026, impact the federal delivery of healthcare for Indigenous and First Nations individuals?

With regard to eligibility for Canada Student Loan forgiveness for healthcare professionals working in rural and remote communities: (a) for which specific professions is such forgiveness available; (b) for which healthcare professions is such forgiveness not available; (c) why were the professions in (b) excluded; and (d) is the government reviewing the list of eligible professions, to consider possible changes, and, if so, what are the details of the review process?

With regard to the Federal Skilled Worker Program, since January 2016, broken down by year: (a) how many individuals applied to the program with the National Occupational Classification codes (i) 31102 (General Practitioners and Family Physicians), (ii) 31100 (Specialists in Clinical and Laboratory Medicine), (iii) 31101 (Specialists in Surgery); (b) of the applicants for each National Occupational Classification code in (a), how many were approved through the Federal Skilled Worker Program; and (c) of the applicants in (b), how many have been licensed by a recognized federal, provincial or territorial regulatory authority to practice medicine in Canada?

With regard to the use of temporary foreign workers in the healthcare sector: (a) what is the total number of temporary foreign workers employed in healthcare-related occupations each year since 2015, broken down by (i) nurse aides, (ii) personal support workers, (iii) licensed practical nurses, (iv) physicians, (v) other job categories, and further broken down by province or territory, and by country of origin; (b) what is the number of healthcare employers currently approved to hire temporary foreign workers, broken down by (i) province or territory, (ii) healthcare occupation; and (c) what is the number of known contract violations or complaints involving healthcare-sector temporary foreign workers, broken down by (i) province or territory, (ii) healthcare occupation, including the nature of the violations?

With regard to the entry of internationally trained healthcare professionals into Canada: (a) what is the number of (i) physicians, (ii) nurses, (iii) other healthcare workers, who have entered Canada each year since 2016 under the Express Entry system, disaggregated by occupation and province of destination; (b) what is the number of (i) physicians, (ii) nurses, (iii) other healthcare workers,who have entered Canada in each year since 2016 through a Provincial Nominee Program, disaggregated by occupation and province; and (c) what is the number of (i) physicians, (ii) nurses, (iii) other healthcare workers, who have been granted a Labour Market Impact Assessment‑based work permit in each year since 2016, broken down by occupation and province of employment?