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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.

Featured material

The state of the health workforce in Canada, 2023

  • Report
  • December 17, 2024
CIHI has compiled the most recent data (up to 2023) on selected health professionals to illustrate the current state of the health workforce, with a special focus on primary care.

Reports and releases

See all reports and releases

Data tables

See all data tables

Health workforce: Overview

Health workforce: Overview jtseng_master

Get information on products produced by CIHI and Statistics Canada in collaboration with Health Workforce Canada (HWC). You can find these products on the HWC dashboards that are linked below.

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.

Health Workforce Canada

In 2023, CIHI was asked by Health Canada to lead consultations and to coordinate the set-up of an organization that would convene and collaborate with health sector partners to find ways to address current and future health workforce challenges. As a result of this work, HWC was born. HWC is a new, independent organization that will bring together diverse health system planners and health workforce experts to learn from one another, strengthen and make data more accessible, and gather and share new solutions for our workforce challenges. With our data and analysis, CIHI will support HWC’s mission to effectively plan for the future. We will continue to set data standards, work to fill data gaps and share timely analysis and insight.

Visit HWC’s website

CIHI products hosted by HWC

CIHI works closely with HWC and serves as a primary data source as it collates and makes data from many sources available to health systems. As part of this collaboration, HWC hosts certain CIHI products.

Intervention Scan

The Health Workforce Intervention Scan (policy tracker) tracks relevant interventions through web-based searches to understand the policy landscape and government priorities as they relate to health workforce capacity, practice and services. The scan can be used to inform accurate contextualization of health workforce data and highlight emerging areas of policy interest as health systems deal with the ongoing health workforce crisis. This scan is updated quarterly.

Data Catalogue

The Health Workforce Information Data Catalogue is a centralized source of information on health human resources (HHR) data at CIHI and Statistics Canada. It is intended to enable access to relevant content and support users in locating HHR data resources.

HWC dashboards

Find the Intervention Scan (policy tracker) and Data Catalogue on HWC’s dashboards.

Visit the HWC dashboards

Contact us

Contact us at this email address:

hwi@cihi.ca 

Health workforce: Reports and releases

Health workforce: Reports and releases kathschach

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

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Connected care

  • Project
  • Published
Connected Care offers a future where patients don’t need to repeat their medical history or prescriptions to every health care provider they visit.

Go in depth: 2023 health workforce data

  • Report
  • Published
Download the 2023 data on selected health professionals, including nurses and physicians, with an interactive tool, data tables and detailed methodology notes.

Health workforce: Recruitment and retention

  • Report
  • Published
Learn about incoming and outgoing health professionals who may be engaged in primary care, including those who are internationally educated.

Health workforce: Places of work

  • Report
  • Published
Get insights into selected health care providers who may be engaged in primary care across care sectors and geographical areas.

The state of the health workforce in Canada, 2023

  • Report
  • Published
CIHI has compiled the most recent data (up to 2023) on selected health professionals to illustrate the current state of the health workforce, with a special focus on primary care.

Health workforce: Practice patterns

  • Report
  • Published
Find early insights on the distribution of work and changes in practice patterns among health care providers who may be engaged in primary care.

Health workforce: Supply and direct care

  • Report
  • Published
Examine trends in the supply of health professionals who may be engaged in primary care and the proportion working in direct care.

National health expenditure trends

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

Hospital spending

  • Release summary
  • Published
Take an in-depth look at hospital spending in Canada and discover emerging trends using data from the Canadian MIS Database (CMDB).

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 47 results

Health Workforce in Canada, 2023 — Quick Stats

  • Data tables
  • Published
Interactive tool to visually compare trends for Canada’s health workforce by profession, plus vacancies and staffing indicators. Hospital staffing indicators updated as of November 17, 2024.

Pharmacists in Canada, 2023 — Data Tables (XLSX)

  • Data tables
  • Published
These data tables report on the supply, workforce, demographics, education and employment trends of Canada’s pharmacist workforce.

Health workforce: Indicators

Health workforce: Indicators kathschach

This page lists CIHI’s health workforce indicators.

Showing 1 to 10 of 17 results

Family Physicians Entering and Leaving the Workforce

  • Indicator
  • Published
Difference between the number of clinically active family physicians entering and exiting the workforce in a jurisdiction and year, also known as “net new” family physicians.

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
  • Published
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.

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

National Physician Database metadata

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

Patient Level Physician Billing (PLPB) metadata

  • Metadata
  • Published
​​​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
  • Published
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 28 results

Going the Distance

  • Podcast episode
  • Published
A mother and her seriously ill son travel from Nunavut to Ottawa to a special clinic set up to meet the needs of Inuit families accessing medical care.

Dr. Manners: Operating Room Etiquette

  • Podcast episode
  • Published
Listen as Avis Favaro speaks with UHN’s Dr. Carol-Anne Moulton about designing systems to promote teamwork and open communication in the operating room.

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

  • Podcast episode
  • Published
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…

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 38 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
  • Published
Aggregate-level, standardized data on the regulatory environment, supply, and demographic and education characteristics of chiropractors.

Combined laboratory and X-ray technologists

  • Health care providers
  • Published
Aggregate-level, standardized data on the regulatory environment, supply, and demographic and educational characteristics of combined laboratory and X-ray technologists.

Dental assistants

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

Dental hygienists

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

Dentists

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

Denturists

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

Dietitians

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

Genetic counsellors

  • Health care providers
  • Published
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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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:

 

Access CIHI’s Learning Centre

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Create a CIHI profile so our system can recognize your organization’s entitlements. By doing so, you will get a Learning Centre account — no extra steps needed!

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Browse our catalogues

With 300 learning products in a variety of areas, we’re sure to have something that meets your needs — and our online courses will always fit your schedule.

Visit the Education page 

Other education resources

Resources offered through CIHI include the following:

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CIHI's Nursing Product Guide (PDF)

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

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