Minister Duclos highlights budget investments to strengthen public health care and support health workers and students

SYDNEY, NS, April 5, 2023 /CNW/ - Through Budget 2023—A Made-in-Canada Plan, the Government of Canada is making investments that will support a stronger middle class, an affordable economy, and a healthy future for Canadians. Canada's economic growth was the strongest in the G7 over the last year, and today, 830,000 more Canadians are employed than before the pandemic, including 28,100 in Nova Scotia.

Today, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Health and Mike Kelloway, Member of Parliament for Cape Breton – Canso, joined President and Vice-Chancellor of Cape Breton University, the Honourable David C. Dingwall to meet with nursing students at Cape Breton University (CBU) and highlight Budget 2023's investments to strengthen public health care and support health workers across the country. The visit also highlighted the important actions of CBU to help address health care challenges, including their recently announced Medical Campus which will enhance medical training capacity and improve access to family health services in Cape Breton. 

To strengthen Canada's universal public health care system, Budget 2023 highlighted the government's plan to provide close to $200 billion over 10 years, which includes over $5 billion to Nova Scotia for timely access to a family health team or provider, a sustainable health workforce, better access to quality mental health services, and ensuring patients have access to their own electronic health information.

Helping Canadians age with dignity, closer to home, with access to home care or care in a safe long-term care facility is another shared priority where collaborative work is already underway.

Canada's health workers are the backbone of our health care system, but they are currently experiencing unprecedented challenges, which is why Budget 2023 includes funding to better support them. Together with provinces and territories, work is underway to improve conditions for health workers so that they can keep doing what they do best – keeping patients healthy. 

Personal support workers (PSWs), for example, take important care of people and deserve to be fairly paid. Budget 2023 includes $1.7 billion over five years to support hourly wage increases for these workers and related professions. To help more health workers work in Canada quicker, we are also working with provinces and territories and other health partners to streamline foreign credential recognition for internationally educated health professionals and advance multi-jurisdictional credential recognition so that well-trained health care professionals can work wherever there is need across the country.

The Government of Canada continues to support doctors and nurses with our investments, including initiatives like the expansion of the Canada Student Loan Forgiveness program for doctors and nurses who work in underserved rural or remote communities.

With these significant investments in Budget 2023, and the ongoing work with provinces, territories, and health partners, we will continue to support health workers and our public health care system as they are essential to our well-being—and are an important foundation of a growing, healthy economy.

Quotes

"Better health care for Canadians means supporting our healthcare workers and ensuring patients receive timely access to health services they need and deserve. Budget 2023 delivers our plan to strengthen our universal, public health care system and support a stronger health workforce. Together, with provinces and territories we will improve health care for everyone and help build a stronger, more sustainable, and more secure Canadian economy—for everyone."

The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos
Minister of Health

"Health care is a top priority for communities across Cape Breton—Canso and indeed across Canada. Our government is responding by making transformational investments that will improve the quality and delivery of health services right here in Nova Scotia. I'm proud of our work to strengthen our public health care system, and I'm excited to see the positive impact it will have on Canadians for years to come."

Mike Kelloway
Member of Parliament for Cape Breton–Canso

"We were extremely pleased to hear of the many investments in Budget 2023 related to healthcare. In particular, the focus on support for students pursuing careers in healthcare, and the need to provide more access to family health care providers. These investments are in direct alignment with CBU's strategic healthcare initiative that includes the development of the campus infrastructure for a school of medicine, health and counselling centre, and patient collaborative care clinic. Our initiatives are a part of the healthcare solution. It won't solve every challenge, but we are committed to continually doing all we can to help. We look forward to continuing to work with our federal and provincial counterparts to make our communities and our country the healthiest they can be."

David Dingwall
CBU President & Vice-Chancellor

Related Products

• Budget 2023: A Made-in-Canada Plan: Strong Middle Class, Affordable Economy, Healthy Future
• Budget 2023: Address by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
• Backgrounder: Stronger Public Health Care
• Backgrounder: Working together to improve health care for Canadians (February 7, 2023) 
• Statement from the Minister of Health and Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health on the Coalition for Action for Health Workers
• Shared Health Priorities and Safe Long-term Care Fund

SOURCE Health Canada

Media may contact: Guillaume Bertrand, Senior Communications Advisor and Press Secretary, Office of the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Health, 613-957-0200; Public Enquiries: 613-957-2991, 1-866-225-0709; Media Relations, Health Canada, 613-957-2983, [email protected]