Moderated by Natalie Damiano, Director of Health Workforce Information at the Canadian Institute of Health Information, the session explored current challenges and encouraged participants to think about what an ideal alignment of the health workforce and education sectors could look like. Planning and education panelists shared insights on their current challenges and needs for the future, identified leading practices that could be scaled and spread, and opened the door for participants to share their thoughts on key issues.

Panelists:

• Jamaica Cass (Director, Weeneebayko Education Partnership, Queen’s University)
• Krista Clark (Chief Executive Officer, Discovery Community College)
• Becky Donelon (Executive Director, Health Workforce Strategy and Policy Branch, Government of Alberta)
• Jennifer Lovering (Nursing Education Lead, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre)
• Kerry-Lynn Weatherhead (Acting Director, Health Education, BC Public Service)

Naming the challenges:

Panelists identified current challenges and ideas for a stronger future bridge between health workforce planning, education and employment, in the following areas:

• The power of narrative
  The experiences of health care professionals in the workforce today and the challenges they face related to burnout, limited access to mentorship, and practice readiness are having an impact on how young people view health careers. This sparked conversations about how the education and health sectors and employers can work together to rebalance the narrative.
• Human connections are the “X factor”
  Creating stronger bridges between health workforce and education will require structural system changes, but human connections are the x factor. Success depends on relationships among educators, employers, planners, students, and new grads and a host of others responsible for ensuring strong integration. The human element must remain at the heart of effective health workforce planning. Collaboration isn’t just helpful; it’s essential.
• Education and practice still feel misaligned
  Participants at the workshop identified a gap between how students are trained and being practice ready for the team based, integrated care environments they enter. These challenges represent key areas for strengthening between partners.
• The data puzzle
  Everyone agreed: Canada needs to strengthen the data overall to ensure real-time, comprehensive data about student cohorts, education attrition and outcomes, program capacity and future workforce needs. Strengthening the data and the flow between sectors was seen a key solution in creating success.
• The importance of training close to home
  Regional training continues to be one of the most effective ways to retain professionals – especially in rural and Indigenous communities. Further work and discussions about how to support local communities, strengthen data, reinforce secondary school education systems, and creating culturally safe content-specific care environments will be critical.

Turning Discussion into Dialogue

The reflections above reinforce the need for better shared systems, stronger communication channels, enhanced data, and more collaborative planning. Moderators encouraged the group to move from identifying problems to imagining solutions.

The collective imagining of what health workforce and education alignment could look like in 2045 brought forward a number of ideas:

• Seamless collaboration among educators, planners, and employers

• Flexible and accessible education

• Truly integrated data systems

• Regional training that supports communities

• Student voices included as equal partners

So, What Do We Do Next?

Innovative approaches – such as dual credit courses, paid clinical placements, and better supports for internationally educated professionals – are already gaining traction. There was agreement that this work needs to continue and be built upon as we work to improve the health workforce to education bridge over time. Perhaps the most resonant takeaway: don’t reinvent the wheel. Build from what exists, strengthen networks, and start with incremental, doable action.

The group landed on several clear strategies for moving forward:

• Lean into interprofessional, team-based care models
  Education and practice environments need to reflect the increasingly collaborative nature of care. Align curriculums with real-world team-based care structures and encourage educators and employers to jointly define competencies that support collaborative practice.
• Make education pathways flexible and accessible
  Support modular and stackable credentials that allow learners to upskill without pausing employment. Expand remote, hybrid, and community-based learning models so students can train close to home. Explore policies that reduce financial and logistical barriers to entering health education programs.
• Use integrated data to drive decision making
  Develop shared provincial and national data systems that connect student outcomes, program capacity, and workforce trends. Encourage data-sharing agreements among ministries, employers, and educational institutions. Use integrated datasets to forecast emerging workforce needs and proactively adjust training programs.
  
• Establish national standards for entry level roles
  Create nationally recognized baseline competencies for priority professions. Engage regulators, educators, and employers to ensure standards reflect both academic and practice realities. Support mobility across provinces by reducing variation in training requirements.
• Put health planners, educators, and employers at the same table
  Real change happens when we share knowledge, listen deeply, and move forward – together.
• Maintain cross‑sector working groups that meet regularly – not just during crises or planning cycles. Share promising practices across institutions and jurisdictions to avoid duplicating work. Build communication channels that allow issues like placement shortages or emerging workforce gaps to be addressed proactively.