Healthcare Professionals Working Outside Ontario Will Soon be Allowed To Practice in Province Without Regulatory Enrollment
Canadian healthcare workers registered or licensed in provinces outside Ontario will soon be able to start practicing immediately in the province. The new regulation comes as part of an announcement to expand vital services at Windsor Regional Hospital. The new “As of Right” rules will be implemented next month.
During an announcement in Windsor, Ontario, Premier Doug Ford said, “To nurses, doctors, and health-care workers across Canada: if you’ve been thinking of making Ontario your new home, now’s the time to make that happen.” He added, “With our new ‘As of Right’ rules, Ontario is the first province in Canada to allow healthcare workers from across the country to immediately start providing care.” The new regulation will come into effect in February.
For now, healthcare professionals need to be enrolled in one of Ontario’s health regulatory colleges before they can start working in the province. The new ‘As of Right’ rules allow these aspiring professionals to be able to start working immediately in Ontario without having to enroll in a regulatory college. This is an attempt to “overcome bureaucratic delays,” according to Ford. Professionals coming to Ontario for their practice will not be given any financial incentives.
To address staffing shortages, the government said it is also prepared to allow healthcare professionals to work outside of their regular responsibilities or settings as long as “they have the knowledge skill, and judgment to do so.”
Ford also announced $30 million in provincial funding for Windsor Regional Hospital to improve cancer and cardiac treatment. Hospital president and CEO David Musyj thanked Ford and said, “Thank you to the Ford government for moving these important projects forward for our hospital and most importantly for the cardiac and cancer patients we serve in our region.”
The announcement comes just days after Ford announced a plan to invest in private clinics to perform more procedures.
Vineet Washington