https://www.cna-aiic.ca/fr/blogs/ic-contenu/2026/09/18/a-la-rentree-parlementaire-les-infirmieres
CNA urges federal action to improve access to care, make better use of nursing expertise, and protect equitable, publicly funded health care
September 18, 2026 (Ottawa, Ontario) — As the House of Commons returns Monday, the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) is calling on the federal government to strengthen Canada’s public health system.
People across Canada are struggling to get timely care. Nearly one in five adults does not have a primary care provider or team, and gaps in community and home care leave too many people with nowhere else to turn, other than crowded emergency departments.
The solutions are within reach. Canada’s more than half a million regulated nurses are the country’s largest health workforce. Removing the barriers that limit how their expertise is used can improve access and ease pressure on hospitals and emergency departments.
“People want a public health system that’s there when they need it. Nurses have immediate, practical solutions that can improve quality, increase access, and cut wait times,” said Dr. Tracie Risling, CNA’s president.
This fall, CNA is calling for federal action in five areas:
- Strengthen the nursing workforce: Develop a pan-Canadian nursing workforce strategy. Better workforce data and regulatory harmonization across Canada would make it easier for nurses to work where they are needed, use their full knowledge and skills within their legislated scope of practice, and expand nurse-led and team-based models of care.
- Protect equitable, publicly funded care: Enforce the Canada Health Act and maintain stable, predictable federal health funding, with clear accountability to improve access and outcomes. Alberta’s Bill 11 makes that federal role especially important. CNA has warned that allowing patients to pay for faster access to some medically necessary care weakens equitable access. Care should be based on need, not ability to pay.
- Create safer, healthier workplaces for nurses: Invest in mental health supports for nurses and reward practice environments that address heavy workloads, moral distress, burnout, and workplace violence. CNA is also urging Parliament to pass Bill S-233, which would make an assault on a nurse, first responder, or other member of the health workforce an aggravating factor at sentencing. The bill passed second reading in the House without opposition and is now before committee.
- Keep AI in health care safe and shaped by nurses: Put safeguards in place for the use of artificial intelligence in health care, including safety, transparency, clinical validation, and human oversight. Governments should involve nurses in decisions about how AI tools are designed, introduced, monitored and evaluated. This should include the swift passage of Bill S-5, the Connected Care for Canadians Act, to advance the secure, interoperable digital health infrastructure needed to support connected care and the responsible adoption of emerging technologies. CNA is also calling for closer attention to AI’s effects on people, communities, and the environment.
- Strengthen equitable health systems: Invest in Indigenous health, Indigenous-led nursing research, and a stronger Indigenous health workforce; maintain full Interim Federal Health Program coverage for refugees and asylum seekers; and authorize all regulated nurses to complete the Disability Tax Credit Certificate so eligible people can access benefits sooner.
CNA will continue working with parliamentarians and health-system partners this fall to advance these priorities and strengthen public health care.
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About the Canadian Nurses Association
CNA is the national and global voice of the nursing profession in Canada. Our mission is to advance nursing excellence and publicly funded, not-for-profit health systems to improve the health and well-being of all people in Canada. CNA is the only national association that speaks for all nurses in all sectors and practice settings across the 13 provinces and territories. We advocate on behalf of more than half a million regulated nurses across all categories (licensed or registered practical nurses, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, and registered psychiatric nurses), nursing students, and retired nurses.
Media contact:
Kerri-Anne Finn
Media and communications coordinator
Canadian Nurses Association
Cell: 613-282-7859
Email: kfinn@cna-aiic.ca
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