Toronto, February 2, 2024 – The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) announced that Ontario’s Minister of Health, Sylvia Jones, is a winner of the prestigious Golden Scissors Award for making it easier for out-of-province health care professionals to start practising in Ontario. The award is part of CFIB’s 15th annual Red Tape Awareness Week™ that ends today.
Under the province’s “As of Right” rules, Canadian-credentialed physicians, nurses, medical laboratory technologists and respiratory therapists may begin practising in Ontario’s public hospitals and long-term care homes immediately, without first having to wait for the registration process to be concluded. These health care professionals may practise for up to six months while getting their application completed and approved by the relevant Ontario health regulatory college.
In CFIB’s December 2023 survey, 89% of Ontario small business owners said that governments should make it a priority to improve the quality and accessibility of health care.
“Minister Jones is using a creative, regulatory approach to address the province’s health professional labour shortages. Allowing health care professionals to practise sooner means that more patients will get access to health care faster,” said Ryan Mallough, CFIB’s Ontario vice president, legislative affairs. “We urge the Ontario government to apply the same regulatory thinking and increase labour mobility for Canadian workers in other sectors.”
“One year after the launch of our Your Health plan, our government is continuing to break down barriers and reduce red tape to ensure more health care workers can begin practising as soon as they arrive in Ontario, providing much-needed care to patients and families sooner,” said Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “Under the leadership of Premier Ford, Ontario will use every tool in our toolbox to continue growing our health care workforce for years to come.”
The Ontario government’s At Your Service Act, 2022 was recognized by CFIB during last year’s Red Tape Awareness Week™ for being “One to Watch” for regulatory innovation in customer service. The Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery is now working on developing a new regulation under this bill to give businesses more predictability around Ontario permit and licence service timelines.
“We congratulate the Ontario government for continuing to be a Canadian leader in regulatory modernization,” said Julie Kwiecinski, CFIB’s Ontario director of provincial affairs. “Letting out-of-province health care professionals practise in Ontario faster and setting provincial permit approval timelines are two great examples of regulatory burden reduction that will be felt on the ground by both people and businesses.”
For media inquiries or interviews, please contact:
Dariya Baiguzhiyeva, CFIB
647-464-2814
public.affairs@cfib.ca
About CFIB
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is Canada’s largest association of small- and medium-sized businesses with 97,000 members across every industry and region, including 38,000 in Ontario. CFIB is dedicated to increasing business owners’ chances of success by driving policy change at all levels of government, providing expert advice and tools, and negotiating exclusive savings. Learn more at cfib.ca.