Effective health workforce planning involves finding a sustainable balance between the supply and demand for diverse health workers, both in the short- and long-term. As part of Health Workforce Canada’s aim to catalyze capacity for workforce planning through modelling, we conducted a pan-Canadian scan of the current state of health workforce demand modelling.

This report shares our findings on how different jurisdictions estimate demand across healthcare provider groups. It also highlights which health provider groups are currently being modelled in Canada to inform workforce planning decisions. Having this information compiled in one place allows health workforce planning teams to build on the work of others in the modelling community to better anticipate workforce shortages and surpluses, ultimately helping ensure Canadians have access to the healthcare services they need.

To access the report, click here.

Health Workforce Canada is advancing the Pan-Canadian Health Workforce Data Strategy to build a trusted, connected data ecosystem that supports evidence-based workforce planning and better health outcomes for Canadians. This update bridges the gap between the current state Primer and the full strategy report (coming early 2026), sharing what’s been achieved so far and what’s next. It highlights the strategy’s core pillars, and the extensive engagement underway across jurisdictions, professions, and partners, including First Nations, Inuit, and Métis partners, to uphold Indigenous data sovereignty.

To access the full update on the data strategy, click here.

Foundational to effective comprehensive, team-based primary care is a mutual understanding of the roles that individual team members—from a range of occupations—can play. Evidence suggests, however, that many of those involved in the provision of primary care are not fully aware of the education and training, and regulated scopes of practice of other provider groups. This poses a significant barrier to optimal interprofessional collaboration. The Canadian Health Workforce Network has developed this compendium outlining the roles of various primary care team members, created as a resource for those dedicated to primary care training and practice reform in support of team-based models of care.

To access the compendium, click here.

The International Insights in Health Workforce Modelling and Policy resource assembled to prime discussions at the 2025 International Health Workforce Innovation Lab is a unique reference guide for participants and the wider health workforce community. This resource, featuring contributions from Innovation Lab attendees, provides concise country profiles detailing:

• Governance and planning structures 

• Current and emerging modelling activities 

• Key institutions and data sources 

• How evidence informs policy, funding, and planning decisions 

This resource includes snapshots from Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States, offering valuable context for international collaboration and comparative learning.

Download International Insights

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In June 2025, Health Workforce Canada, in partnership with the Government of Australia and the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), convened over 100 leaders from 12 countries and global organizations (including the WHO and OECD) for the inaugural International Health Workforce Innovation Lab. 

Over four dynamic sessions, participants shared bold, data-driven approaches to health workforce modelling and forecasting, explored practical strategies for translating evidence into policy, and tackled shared challenges such as shortages, maldistribution, and evolving models of care. 

The Summary Report captures key themes, country case studies, and opportunities for collective learning, highlighting the importance of sustained collaboration, robust data infrastructure, and action-oriented solutions to build a resilient, equitable health workforce.

Read the Summary Report

Watch the sessions by clicking the links below:

Australia

Canada and New Zealand

Norway

Netherlands

Building towards a strong resilient health workforce in Canada is a key health system priority at federal, provincial/territorial, and local levels. Health workers form the backbone of Canada’s health system, and ensuring we have a solid foundation of data and modelling to support health workforce planning and policy in Canada is essential for the future.​ 

The Pan-Canadian Health Organizations (PCHOs) have coordinated an overview of the range of health workforce activities and projects underway for users to leverage the breadth of work on health workforce across the country. ​ 

The PCHOs’ activities are organized around the four pillars of Health Workforce Canada’s strategic framework: Convening the Networks, Enhancing and Accessing Data, Modelling and Forecasting, and Sharing What Works – each grounded in a foundation of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, and a commitment to Truth and Reconciliation. 

To access the resource, click here 

We’ve begun work to help improve the timeliness, comprehensiveness, and connectedness of health workforce data throughout the country, through the co-development of a Pan-Canadian Health Workforce Data Strategy. Through engagement with data collectors, stewards, users and those who receive care, we are creating a collective vision, a set of guiding principles and recommendations to help build a strong data foundation for tomorrow. As a first step, we’re sharing a Primer to help illustrate the current state of health workforce data across the county.

To access the report, click here

According to the late Honourable Murray Sinclair, systemic racism is “when the system itself is based upon and founded upon racist beliefs and philosophies and thinking that has put in place policies and practices.” And so, we may understand systemic racism as one of the paradigms of the health care system.

The Giga Mino Ganawenimaag Anishinaabeg Training: Theory of Change and Implementation model defines cultural safety. It outlines corresponding challenges and solutions, and discusses anti-racist change, organizational culture, the role of the team, as well as psychological safety and supportive accountability. The model also lays out a way forward to cultural safety through change management and tangible actions we can take across the health care system in Canada.

The model was written by Dr. Marcia Anderson, Vice-Dean, Indigenous Health, Social Justice and Anti-Racism, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, with input from the Change Management and Evaluation Working Group.

(This resource has been published in English only.)

Health Workforce Canada brought together over 50 experts from across the country on October 29^th, 2024, to discuss health workforce modelling and forecasting. The meeting also primed participants for the inaugural Health Workforce Canada Connects symposium starting the next day. 

This report summarizes the insights and discussions from the day-long meeting, detailing successful use cases, challenges and opportunities in health workforce modelling and forecasting, as well as future directions for planning and policy.  

Our team sincerely thanks the health workforce leaders who participated in the Pre-Symposium Meeting and shared valuable insights. Health Workforce Canada is committed to leveraging these perspectives to drive its modelling and forecasting program of work.  

To access the report, click here