https://www.cna-aiic.ca/fr/blogs/ic-contenu/2025/07/24/laiic-salue-lengagement-des-premiers-ministres
July 24, 2025 (Ottawa, Ontario) – The Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) welcomes the Council of the Federation’s renewed commitment to improving internal trade and labour mobility, including specific action to enhance health workforce mobility across provinces and territories.
As part of its ongoing advocacy, CNA was on site in Huntsville throughout the premiers’ meeting to engage directly with leaders and carry forward the voice of Canada’s nurses. CNA urged premiers to prioritize a pan-Canadian approach to harmonize nursing regulation as a concrete and high-impact solution to both workforce and access challenges in the health system.
“We are encouraged to see Canada’s premiers commit to removing barriers to labour mobility, including in the health sector,” said CNA president Dr. Kimberly LeBlanc. “Harmonizing nursing regulation is a tangible and transformative step that would unlock workforce potential and improve access to care across the country, especially in rural, remote, northern, and Indigenous communities.”
A collaborative national approach, respecting our federated model, would reduce regulatory differences across provinces, improve coordination of efforts, and greatly enhance the successful integration of internationally educated nurses into the workforce.
“We commend premiers for recognizing the importance of collaborative efforts with regulators and for committing to advancing mutual recognition and continuing competency requirements,” said CNA CEO Dr. Valerie Grdisa. “We were proud to bring our message directly to Canada’s premiers this week, and we stand ready to work with all levels of government and our regulatory partners to turn these commitments into real, sustained improvements for patients and providers.”
CNA’s recommendations include:
- Establishing a pan-Canadian framework to harmonize nursing licensure and regulation;
- Modernizing regulatory systems to enable nurse mobility across provinces and territories;
- Supporting common entry to practice standards for all categories of the nursing profession, including internationally educated professionals, and ensuring nurses can work where and when they are needed, without unnecessary barriers.
As provinces and territories prepare to finalize a comprehensive mutual recognition agreement covering all goods by December 2025, CNA urges governments to include health workforce mobility as a central priority and to partner with nurses in building a more agile, equitable, and resilient health system for all.
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About the Canadian Nurses Association
The Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) is the national and global professional voice of Canadian nursing. Our mission is to advance the nursing profession to improve health outcomes in Canada’s publicly funded, not-for-profit health system. CNA is the only national association that speaks for all nurses in all sectors and practice settings across all 13 provinces and territories. We represent unionized and non-unionized nurses, retired nurses, nursing students, and all categories of nurses (licensed and registered practical nurses, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, and registered psychiatric nurses).
For more information, please contact:
Amber Morley
Media and Communications Coordinator
Cell: 613-282-7859
Email: amorley@cna-aiic.ca
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