https://www.cna-aiic.ca/fr/blogs/ic-contenu/2025/11/05/laiic-decue-du-manque-dattention-du-budget-federal
November 5, 2025 — The Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) expresses deep concern that the 2025 federal budget missed a critical opportunity to act on commitments made during the recent federal election to strengthen health care and support the health workforce.
Canada’s nurses are calling for a shift from short-term spending to sustainable, nurse-led solutions that improve access, efficiency, and value for Canadians.
The Canadian health system is already among the most expensive in the world: total health-care spending reached $372 billion in 2024, or about $9,054 per Canadian, outpacing inflation and GDP growth. CNA believes the time has come for bold, nurse-led, system-wide change.
“Canada invests heavily in health care, and it’s time to make those investments work smarter for Canadians,” said Dr. Kimberly LeBlanc, President of CNA. “Nurses are ready with innovative, patient-centred solutions that improve accessibility and efficiency. With federal leadership and collaboration, we can build a health system that delivers better outcomes and better value for every dollar spent.”
CNA acknowledges future federal investments in hospitals and health infrastructure, as well as the reallocation of federal funds to improve foreign credential recognition for health professionals but emphasizes that bricks and mortar alone will not solve Canada’s access and staffing crises. Without coordinated workforce planning and retention strategies, new facilities risk standing without the nurses and health professionals needed to deliver care.
“Simply spending more money on the same structures will not fix our health system,” said Dr. Valerie Grdisa, CEO of CNA. “We need smart, evidence-based reforms that optimize the nursing workforce, remove barriers to practice, and make care more accessible for Canadians. The solutions exist; it’s time to implement them.”
Key CNA priorities include:
- Improve access and quality of care – Canadians are facing an accessibility crisis. Long wait times and growing primary-care gaps are symptoms of a system under strain. To meet the needs of patients and communities, Canada must modernize outdated care models and remove barriers preventing nurses and nurse practitioners from delivering care where it’s most needed.
- Optimize the nursing workforce – Nurses and nurse practitioners deliver high-quality care efficiently and safely. By expanding scopes of practice, scaling up nurse-led and team-based models of care, and investing in retention, the system can achieve better outcomes and greater value for every taxpayer dollar.
- Advance labour mobility and regulatory harmonization – Despite federal promises to increase nurses’ mobility, it’s time to harmonize nursing regulation by creating a more consistent and coordinated approach, while respecting our federated model. CNA urges the government to deliver on its commitment by advancing a pan-Canadian framework for harmonizing nursing regulation to reduce barriers, improve consistency, and make increased labour mobility a reality across provinces and territories.
- Federal-provincial-territorial leadership – True health reform demands collaboration and measurable results. Federal health investments must be tied to outcomes that enhance efficiency, accessibility, and equity, not only transfers of funds. CNA calls on the federal government to work with provinces, territories, and nursing leaders to modernize outdated structures, including regulatory and legislative barriers. Nurses and nurse practitioners have the greatest potential to bend the cost curve while improving the quality of care and achieving better outcomes across Canada.
Canada’s nursing workforce is the backbone of the health system and CNA remains committed to working with governments, regulators, and nursing partners to turn commitments into concrete action that improves access to care and strengthens the sustainability of Canada’s publicly funded health system. For additional nurse-led policy solutions to build a healthier Canada, consult CNA’s pre-budget brief.
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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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