Question Period Note: Nursing Shortage

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• We recognize the hard work of nurses across this country.
• The ongoing national nursing shortage has a particular impact on nursing health human resources in remote and isolated Indigenous communities.
• Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) making all possible efforts to address this shortage. To assist, this government has committed nearly 500 million dollars through federal Budgets 2021, 2022, and 2024.

• We are also:
• Re-deploying nursing resources to areas of greatest need;
• Recruiting more nursing staff and other healthcare providers;
• Offering loan forgiveness for doctors and nurses working in rural/remote communities;
• Working with communities to identify immediate and viable solutions; and
• Implementing recruitment and retention allowances.

• We will continue to work in full partnership with provinces, territories, and Indigenous Peoples to advance the outcomes we all want to see: better access to care, where and when it’s needed.

ISC employs approximately 905 nurses across Canada in a range roles from front-line service delivery operations to Senior Management. Approximately 70% of the front-line workforce is made up of part-time employees who commute from their homes in urban and rural centres to remote communities on a rotational basis to provide 24/7 primary care services. These nurses are seeking access to the necessary clinical and technology tools and supports they are accustomed to using as part of their standard practice in non-remote settings.

In order to meet the needs of nurses, ISC has implemented a number of strategies, including: introduced a case management team (Nursing Services Response Centre – NSRC) for nurses who encounter challenges in I/T; a robust orientation and onboarding process; Implemented policies in order to enhance the safety of nurses who work in remote and isolated settings; and worked to include other health care resources into the models of care within communities

ISC supports Inuit partners to build culturally relevant and safe health resources through initiatives such as Indigenous Health Human Resources and the Anti-Indigenous Racism in Health Care. In 2022-23 and 2023-24, Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated received a total of over $5.3M in Anti-Indigenous Racism in Health Care funding to establish patient navigators and advocates, address cultural safety and to bring birthing closer to home. The organization also received $1.1M over 2 years to support the laboratory assistant program.

If pressed on what is being done to address the nurse shortages in Indigenous communities:
• To ensure the ongoing delivery of quality healthcare in First Nation and Inuit communities, we are :
o Introducing inter-professional teams to augment the existing nursing workforce;
o Strengthening our promotion of nursing as a career opportunity in Indigenous communities;
o Introducing various initiatives to assist nurses when they encounter challenging conditions. For example, the addition of community security personnel to nursing stations;
o Supporting Indigenous partners to explore and develop new and innovative ways of delivering healthcare services to their communities;
o Incorporating paramedics, licensed practical nurses and physician assistants into the health care delivery model when applicable under provincial and territorial legislation;
o Focused on responding to the needs of this workforce by creating a Nursing Services Response Centre including a case management service to address challenges encountered in the work place; and
o Supporting the use of technology in the delivery of healthcare services in community.

If pressed on nursing in Nunavut
• In the territories, primary care services, including nursing, are the responsibility of the territorial governments.
• Indigenous Services Canada works closely with Inuit partners, the Government of Nunavut and Public Health Agency of Canada to provide surge capacity in communities, when requested.
• For instance, eight federal nurses were deployed to Pangnirtung to support the tuberculosis community wide screening clinic, from September through December 2023.
• Our government will continue to collaborate with partners through the Nunavut Partnership Table on Health to address the need for culturally-appropriate and safe health human resources.