While politicians tout the benefits of reducing interprovincial trade barriers to unlock prosperity amid escalating trade tensions, our most precious health-care resources — fully qualified doctors — remain shackled. Physicians face a maze of regulations when attempting to practise beyond their home province. We must break these chains.
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Authors:
- Anthony Sanfilippo - professor of Medicine (Cardiology), Queen’s University, Ontario
- Neil Seeman - Senior Fellow, Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, and Adjunct Professor, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto
It’s crazy that, on one hand, we have the Red Seal program, which allows tradespeople in certain trades to have their qualifications recognized across Canada, and on the other hand, we have nothing for any type of healthcare worker.
My last doctor before my current one (who I am literally lucky to have, getting on her roster was a complete fluke) was from BC and he said that the hoops he had to jump through to practice in ON were exhausting.
It’s not dissimilar for engineers either.
Either way, a national board to administer a national Act would be necessary, which would need to develop the national licencing requirements. Unfortunately, there’s not many doctors with extra time on their hands to aid with this task.
I was under the impression that we already have national licensing requirements. There’s just more on top that stops doctors from practicing in every province.
Surely there are at least 3 retired doctors from each province and territory who now primarily work as medical consultants, especially as it relates to politics. Surely Health Canada has the workforce and ability to arrange yet another panel/committee.
I don’t accept that this is difficult, it’s just costly and tedious.
Yep, I’d agree with that. I know engineering licensing is governed by each province with Engineers Canada enabling some parity in standards across the country to improve mobility.
These provincial licensing/priviledging difficulties indicate provinces still have a significant say in who can practice in their province. I would guess the national standards are more around education.