SRPC Welcomes CMA Policy on Integrated Health Workforce Planning, Calls for Urgent National Action to Address Rural Health Crisis

Press Release

October 15, 2025

October 25, 2025 — Shawville QC

The Society of Rural Physicians of Canada (SRPC) welcomes the Canadian Medical Association’s (CMA) new policy, Building Capacity through Integrated Health Workforce Planning, and commends the CMA for its leadership in advancing a national, collaborative approach to strengthening Canada’s health workforce.

The SRPC strongly supports the CMA’s call for integrated, evidence-informed, and community-rooted health human resource (HHR) planning and emphasizes the urgent need to ensure that this planning explicitly and meaningfully includes rural, remote, and Indigenous communities.  This is critical to ensure the future stability and sustainability of rural health systems and the ability of those systems to support economic vibrancy across Canada’s rural, remote and indigenous communities.

“The crisis in rural health services is real and growing,” said rural physician and SRPC President, Dr. Gavin Parker. “Rural and Indigenous patients are experiencing unprecedented barriers to care, including emergency department closures, loss of obstetrical and surgical services, and lack of stable primary care. The CMA’s framework offers a much-needed foundation to move toward coordinated national action.”

Shared Commitment to Integrated, Equitable Planning

The SRPC applauds the CMA’s recognition that fragmented, profession-specific approaches to workforce planning have failed to meet Canada’s health needs. The CMA’s call for team-based, interprofessional, and Indigenous-partnered planning to meet the needs of whole communities reflects principles championed by rural physicians across the country.

The SRPC particularly supports CMA recommendations that:

• Prioritize collaborative, interprofessional planning to align workforce capacity with community health needs.
• Embed Indigenous leadership and cultural safety within all levels of workforce development.
• Strengthen rural and remote education pathways including infrastructure to ensure that training, mentorship, and continuing professional development occur where care is delivered.
• Expand data collection, education reform, and mobility mechanisms—including pan-Canadian licensure—to enable a sustainable, adaptable workforce.

A Call for Rural Health as a National Priority

The SRPC reiterates its own policy statement which calls for immediate stabilization of rural services and a dedicated national rural health workforce strategy.

The SRPC urges federal, provincial, territorial, and Indigenous governments to:

• Invest in recruitment and retention initiatives that strengthen rural practice viability, and will enable ongoing teaching of future workforce in rural communities.
• Expand the National Advanced Skills and Training Program for Rural Practice as a long-term, federally supported model for upskilling providers and retaining them both in the community and doing the work that communities need.
• Implement pan-Canadian licensure to facilitate mobility and emergency coverage.
• Create a National Rural Health Commissioner to work in partnership with other organizations ensuring sustained accountability and leadership for rural, remote, and Indigenous health systems.

“Rural health care is integral to Canada’s health system,” SRPC President Elect Dr. Sarah Giles noted. “A coordinated national plan, rooted in community, cultural safety, and sustainability is essential not only for rural residents, but for the stability of the entire health system.”

Next Steps: A Call to Collaborate

At its recent Annual General Meeting, the SRPC passed a motion to seek funding to develop a national rural health workforce plan. The SRPC has the experience and connections needed to help lead this work, but funding is essential to make it happen. The SRPC looks forward to working with the CMA, Health Workforce Canada and other partners to move it forward.

About the SRPC

The Society of Rural Physicians of Canada (SRPC) is the national voice of Canadian rural physicians. Founded in 1992, the SRPC champions rural generalist medical care through education, collaboration, advocacy, and research. The SRPC supports rural physicians and communities, advances rural health research and education, and fosters collaboration among those dedicated to rural health. It is a voluntary professional organization representing more than 3,500 rural physicians across Canada.

Media Contact:
Society of Rural Physicians of Canada
Email: info@srpc.ca | Website: www.srpc.ca

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