Questions and responses 44th Parliament, 1st session November 22, 2021, to January 6, 2025

With regard to nurses employed by Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) to provide health care to rural, remote and Northern communities, broken down by province or territory: (a) what is the current number of nurses employed by ISC who are (i) full-time, (ii) part-time; (b) what is the total number of new nurses hired since September 1, 2022; (c) what is the current number of vacant nursing positions; and (d) which nursing stations had their capacity reduced due to staffing shortages in other communities?

With regard to the findings from the 2023 Auditor General Report 2 titled “Connectivity in Rural and Remote Areas” that “59.5% of households had access to Internet coverage at the target speeds” in rural and remote areas: (a) after the completion of the Universal Broadband Fund, what percentage of rural and remote communities will still need connectivity to meet the 50/10 goal; (b) by 2026, what is the estimated percentage of rural and remote households that will be connected to the 50/10 goal based on funded and projected projects; (c) what improvements are planned for the Internet Service Availability map to ensure that it is up to date and accurate; (d) when will each of the improvements in (c) be implemented; (e) does the National Broadband Internet Service Availability Map share a data source with the Ontario New Interactive High-Speed Internet Map; and (f) what is the breakdown of the submissions received by (i) consumers, (ii) providers on the feedback section of the government’s web page titled “High-speed Internet for all Canadians”, broken down by geographic area the submission was from and by the nature of the feedback?

With regard to the Minister for Innovation, Science and Industry’s commitment to stabilize food prices: (a) has the Minister held any meetings with CEOs or executives of companies serving Northern, rural, and remote communities where there is little or no competition in the grocery sector; (b) does the Minister’s commitment to stabilize grocery prices include efforts to stabilize prices in Northern, rural and remote communities where food insecurity is the highest; (c) does the Minister’s efforts to create a grocery task force include a mandate to monitor the practices of grocers in Northern, rural and remote communities; and (d) what efforts is the Minister making to improve the availability and accessibility of data on food prices in Northern, rural and remote communities?

With regard to the National Housing Strategy: (a) what funding programs or streams are dedicated to, or include streams or criteria for, rural or remote communities, and how much funding has been allocated for and disbursed by each one, broken down by year; (b) what is the population cap, or analogous constraint, on applications to funding programs or streams dedicated to, or which consider the recipient’s location as, rural or remote communities, broken down by funding program or stream and year; (c) what municipalities, groups, or projects received funding based, in whole or in part, on the location of the recipient being in an area defined as rural or remote, and how much funding was received by each recipient, broken down by year, province, funding program or stream, and rural or remote designation; (d) which municipalities received funding from funds dedicated to rural or remote communities, and how much funding was received by each recipient, broken down by year, province, funding program or stream, and rural or remote designation; (e) which municipalities, which are not designated communities, received funding from funds dedicated to rural or remote communities, and how much funding was received by each recipient, broken down by year, province, funding program or stream, and project or application; (f) in total, how much funding has been provided through funding programs or streams dedicated to, or which consider the recipient’s location as, rural or remote communities, to municipalities with populations of fewer than 35,000, broken down by year, province, funding program or stream, and recipient; (g) what methods or figures are used to determine or track the number of homeless people in areas or municipalities with populations of fewer than 35,000; (h) how many people were homeless in areas or municipalities with populations of fewer than 35,000, since 2015, broken down by year, province, and municipality or area; (i) what methods or figures are used to determine or track the number of homeless people who are in, or migrate to, urban areas who are from areas or municipalities with populations of fewer than 35,000 and migrated to an urban area due to homelessness; and (j) how many people were homeless in urban areas who are from areas or municipalities with populations of fewer than 35,000 and migrated to an urban area due to homelessness, since 2015, broken down by year, province, urban municipality or area, and originating municipality or area with a population of fewer than 35,000?