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Health workforce

Health workforce kathschach

Health care providers are one of the greatest assets of Canada’s health care systems. Evidence-based planning for and distribution of health care professionals — now and in the future — are vital parts of making sure Canadians can access health care services when and where they need them. 

There are many different types of health care providers in Canada. CIHI collects data and information on more than 30 groups of health care professionals, including detailed record-level information on supply, distribution, demographic, education, employment and practice characteristics for some professionals, and broader data on other professionals. Explore information on the health workforce, including indicators, tools, reports, data tables and other key resources.

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Reports and releases

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Data tables

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Health workforce: Reports and releases

Health workforce: Reports and releases kathschach

This page lists health workforce reports, stories, infographics and release summaries.

Showing 1 to 10 of 72 results

Keeping pace with changing population needs

  • Report
  • Published
Latest data suggests that the supply and distribution of health care workers may not be keeping pace with changes in Canada’s population, including across rural/remote regions and an aging population.

Supply and distribution

  • Report
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The supply of health care workers is growing overall, with variations in how professionals are distributed across Canada and the services they provide.

Go in depth: 2022 health workforce data

  • Report
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Download the most recent data on selected professionals, including nurses and physicians, with an interactive tool, data tables and detailed methodology notes.

Internationally educated health professionals

  • Report
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Internationally educated health professionals make up a substantial portion of some health professions, and jurisdictions are tapping into this resource to build capacity.

Tracking workplace measures

  • Report
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New data on vacancies, overtime and health care worker wellness sheds light on changes in experiences of health care workers and labour demand across different work environments.

Connected care

  • Project
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CIHI is working with stakeholders to develop standards that enable connected care and health data interoperability in Canada.

Shared Health Priorities

  • Project
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Working with the federal/provincial/territorial governments, CIHI is developing indicators to measure access to services for mental health and substance use, and home and community care.

National health expenditure trends

  • Release summary
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An overview of Canadian health spending trends, featuring comparative expenditure data at provincial, territorial and international levels.

Health workforce: Data tables

Health workforce: Data tables kathschach

This page lists data tables that provide information about the health workforce.

Showing 1 to 10 of 53 results

Health Workforce in Canada, 2022 — Quick Stats (XLSX)

  • Data tables
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This Quick Stats file is an interactive tool to visually compare the supply, workforce, inflow/outflow and provincial and territorial trends of Canada’s health workforce by profession, as well as vacancies and selected staffing indicators.

Health workforce: Indicators

Health workforce: Indicators kathschach

This page lists CIHI’s health workforce indicators.

Showing 1 to 10 of 12 results

Has a Regular Health Care Provider

  • Indicator
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This indicator provides the percentage of the population that reported having a regular health care provider, including a family doctor or general practitioner, a medical specialist or a nurse practitioner. Higher percentages are desirable.

Health workforce: Tools

Health workforce: Tools kathschach

This page lists CIHI’s performance reporting tools that contain health workforce data.

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Canadian COVID-19 Intervention Timeline

  • Tool
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Selected interventions (policies and other measures) to reduce the spread of and improve health outcomes from COVID-19 by jurisdiction (Canada, province, territory), including case counts.

Quick Stats

  • Tool
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Quick Stats are a series of free, publicly available reports that provide aggregate-level data about health care in Canada.

Health workforce: Data holdings

Health workforce: Data holdings kathschach

This page contains information about CIHI’s health workforce data holdings. 

Showing 1 to 6 of 6 results

Health Workforce Database metadata

  • Metadata
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The Health Workforce Database contains information on more than 30 groups of health care professionals in Canada.

National Physician Database metadata

  • Metadata
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Source, data coverage, data availability, data elements and data quality of the National Physician Database (NPDB).

Patient Level Physician Billing (PLPB) metadata

  • Metadata
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​​​Metadata information on the source, statement of purpose, data coverage, data availability, data elements and data quality of the Patient Level Physician Billing data.

Scott’s Medical Database metadata

  • Metadata
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Source, data coverage, data availability, data elements and data quality of Scott's Medical Database (SMDB).

Health workforce: News and podcasts

Health workforce: News and podcasts kathschach

This page contains media releases, bulletins and podcast episodes about the health workforce.

Showing 1 to 10 of 27 results

Emergency Departments in Crisis — Dr. Fraser Mackay and David Leary

  • Podcast episode
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In this episode of the CHIP, we are joined by Dr. Fraser Mackay, an emergency physician, and David Leary, a veteran paramedic, to discuss the ongoing crisis gripping emergency departments across the country, the impact on workers and patients, and what’s…

Palliative Care in Canada — Bernard Lapointe and Philippe Miquel

  • Podcast episode
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In this episode of the CHIP, host Alya Niang speaks with McGill University professor Bernard Lapointe and documentary filmmaker Philippe Miquel about the state of palliative care in Canada and why it is such a critical part of health care.

Virtual Care in Canada — Dr. Ewan Affleck

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In this episode of the CHIP, host Avis Favaro speaks with Dr. Ewan Affleck about the future of virtual care in Canada and why he is so passionate about continuing its growth.

Virtual Care in Canada — Dr. Onil Bhattacharyya

  • Podcast episode
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In this episode of the CHIP, host Alya Niang speaks with Dr. Onil Bhattacharyya about the future of virtual care in Canada and why he is so passionate about continuing its growth.

Health workforce: Health care providers

Health workforce: Health care providers kathschach

This page contains supply, distribution and demographic information on more than 30 groups of health care professionals in Canada.

Showing 1 to 10 of 35 results

Audiologists

  • Health care providers
  • Published
Aggregate-level, standardized data on the regulatory environment, supply, and demographic and education characteristics of audiologists.

Chiropractors

  • Health care providers
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Aggregate-level, standardized data on the regulatory environment, supply, and demographic and education characteristics of chiropractors.

Dental assistants

  • Health care providers
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Aggregate-level, standardized data on the regulatory environment, supply, and demographic and education characteristics of dental assistants.

Dental hygienists

  • Health care providers
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Aggregate-level, standardized data on the regulatory environment, supply, and demographic and education characteristics of dental hygienists.

Dentists

  • Health care providers
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Aggregate-level, standardized data on the regulatory environment, supply, and demographic and education characteristics of dentists.

Dietitians

  • Health care providers
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Aggregate-level, standardized data on the regulatory environment, supply, and demographic and education characteristics of dietitians.

Genetic counsellors

  • Health care providers
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Aggregate-level, standardized data on the regulatory environment, supply, and demographic and education characteristics of genetic counsellors.

Health workforce: Methodology resources

Health workforce: Methodology resources kathschach

This page lists the sources, definitions, strengths and limitations of the data available for the health workforce.

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Pan-Canadian Health Data Content Framework

  • Framework
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The Pan-Canadian Health Data Content Framework defines the health data required to enable connected care and interoperability across Canada and is available for public review.

Health workforce: Education resources

Health workforce: Education resources kathschach

Through our Learning Centre, CIHI provides opportunities for health professionals to understand our evolving reporting systems and the application of our standards, data and analytics. We offer many courses and resources for a variety of audiences, including clinicians, assessors, data submitters and analysts, decision-makers, policy planners and researchers.

Courses and resources are available in a variety of formats, including eLearning modules, PDF and page-based documents, live and recorded web conferences, and videos.

On this page:

 

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Other education resources

Resources offered through CIHI include the following:

Showing 1 to 10 of 10 results

CIHI's Nursing Product Guide (PDF)

  • Resource collection
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A list of nursing products (e.g., report, Quick Stats, data tables, chartbook, infographic and methodology notes) and their intended audience and use.

Connected care — Video (Video)

  • Video
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This video explains what connected care is, how it will improve Canadians’ experiences with their health system and how CIHI is working with stakeholders to make this vision a reality.

Health Human Resources Product Review, 2021 (PDF)

  • Information sheet
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A summary of the product review of the Health Human Resources (HHR) annual releases, which examined underlying data, methodologies, content and format.

Regulated Nurses Database Data Element List (PDF)

  • Data elements list
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List of data elements on supply, distribution and practice characteristics of the three groups of regulated nursing professionals in Canada.