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Health Care Professionals Employed in Direct Care by Type of Professional, Health Region and Jurisdiction

This indicator gives the number of health care providers employed in the profession and working in direct care, by type of provider, health region and jurisdiction.

A measure of access to health care professionals

A low or high number may be desirable; interpretations should be evaluated alongside other relevant data (e.g., population need, models of care, mix of health care professionals).

Data updated:
Data availability: to
Geographic coverage
All provinces/territories
Reporting level
National, Province/Territory, Region
Calculation

Number of health care professionals employed in the profession and working in direct care in each health region and jurisdiction.

Unit of Analysis: Service provider

Denominator

None

Numerator

Number of health care professionals employed in the profession and working in direct care, by health region

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Name

Health Care Professionals Employed in Direct Care by Type of Professional, Health Region and Jurisdiction

Short/Other Names

Health Care Professionals in Direct Care by Health Region and Jurisdiction

Description

Number of health care professionals employed in the profession and working in direct care, by type of professional, health region and jurisdiction.

Rationale

Based on World Health Organization (WHO) National Health Workforce Accounts indicator 1-12: Density of Active Health Workers in Different Regions (by Regional Typology, by Cadre), this indicator provides information on the number and distribution of health workers. Density can be calculated by dividing the number of health care professionals employed in direct care by the population estimates; please see the CIHI indicator Health Care Professionals Employed in Direct Care per 100,000 Population, by Health Region and Jurisdiction.

Interpretation

A measure of access to health care professionals

A low or high number may be desirable; interpretations should be evaluated alongside other relevant data (e.g., population need, models of care, mix of health care professionals).

HSP Framework Dimension

Health system inputs and characteristics: Efficient allocation of resources

Areas of Need

Not applicable

Targets/Benchmarks

WHO: Health worker density multiplied by population estimates

Available Data Years

to

Geographic Coverage

  • All provinces/territories

Reporting Level/Disaggregation

  • National
  • Province/Territory
  • Region
  • Professional; may be further aggregated by age, highest level of education, setting of employment, urban/rural/remote, etc.

Indicator Results

Health workforce data tables
 

Update Frequency

Every year

Latest Results Update Date

Updates

Not applicable

Description

Number of health care professionals employed in the profession and working in direct care in each health region and jurisdiction.

Unit of Analysis: Service provider

Type of Measurement

Number - Number; number of health care professionals by health region or jurisdiction

Denominator

Description:

None

Numerator

Description:

Number of health care professionals employed in the profession and working in direct care, by health region

Inclusions:

  • Active registered health care professionals employed in the profession and working in direct care.

Additional inclusion criteria vary by type of professional.

Exclusions:

  • Health care professionals not employed in the profession.
  • Health care professionals employed in education, research and administration.
  • Inactive registrants or health care professionals who did not register in a Canadian province or territory.

Additional exclusion criteria vary by type of professional.

Method of Adjustment

Not applicable

Adjustment Applied

None

Geographic Assignment

Place of service

Data Sources

  • HWDB

Caveats and Limitations

The methodology used to calculate population estimates may vary for different countries. Caution should be used when comparing results across countries.

Statistics reported may differ from those reported by other organizations due to differences in data collection and reporting methodologies.

Issues of under- and/or over-coverage may vary by type of professional.

Data is not necessarily available for each province and territory for each type of professional.

Trending Issues

Assignment of postal codes to health regions can change over time.

Varies by type of professional

Comments

Please note that the available data years, geographic coverage, reporting level/disaggregation and update frequency vary by type of professional.

“Available data year” can refer to data year (for nurses) or to reporting year (for occupational therapists, physiotherapists and pharmacists).

References

World Health Organization. National Health Workforce Accounts: A Handbook. 2016.

World Health Organization. Global Strategy on Health Resources for Health: Workforce 2030. 2016.

How to cite:

Canadian Institute for Health Information. Health Care Professionals Employed in Direct Care by Type of Professional, Health Region and Jurisdiction. Accessed April 25, 2025.