Liberals enact pre-promised increase to student loan forgiveness for rural doctors and nurses
The federal government says it is increasing student loan forgiveness for rural doctors and nurses by 50 per cent, in an effort to attract more medical professionals to smaller and under-served Canadian communities.
This increase will see up to $60,000 in loan forgiveness offered to family physicians and family medicine residents.
For nurses and nurse practitioners working in under-served rural and remote communities, the Liberals will be offering up to $30,000 in loan forgiveness.
This increase is to the maximum amount of forgivable Canada Student Loans, meaning it only applies to the federal portion of a student loan. The measure, touted Tuesday, is an enactment of previously announced funding from the 2022 federal budget.
Over the next decade, this loan forgiveness will attract close to 1,200 more doctors and 4,000 more nurses, said Employment and Workforce Development Minister Randy Boissonnault.
The federal government estimates that approximately 3,000 doctors and nurses are expected to benefit in the first year of implementation, reaching up to 8,000 medical professionals per year by 2033.
According to the government, the funding to cover the cost of this loan offering is coming from existing planned spending, specifically a years-old allocation of $26.2 million over four years, , and $7 million ongoing.
Asked by reporters why the Liberals aren't instead expanding the number of residency spots, Minister Boissonnault pointed to the cross-Canada funding agreements the federal government has secured with provinces and territories.
"The money's there and the provinces and universities can allocate it, and they should allocate it in these spaces. But at the same time, it's not just about more medical residencies, and more medical spaces. It's about recognizing the medical professionals who are already here," he said.
"Providing more student loan debt relief will encourage more young people to become doctors and nurses, to practice in underserved areas of our country or communities that have told us they have a hard time attracting new family doctors and nurses."
The Liberals say they plan to expand the reach of this program to include communities with populations of up to 30,000 people, later this fall.
This Ottawa announcement was made as part of a larger press conference by a suite of federal ministers offering other economic and housing measures targeted at rural Canadians, including finalizing housing accelerator agreements with more than 60 small and rural communities.
In an emailed statement, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's spokesperson Sebastian Skamski said that a "new photo-op" of a previous announcement "isn't going to fix our broken healthcare system."
"Doctors and nurses face backlogs in Canada so they are forced to train abroad, only for gatekeepers to block them from getting a residency or a position in Canada when they come home," he said.
"Conservatives will remove the gatekeepers and bring in a Blue Seal test so doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals trained abroad who pass the test can get to work in 60 days."
IN DEPTH
Jagmeet Singh pulls NDP out of deal with Trudeau Liberals, takes aim at Poilievre Conservatives
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has pulled his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement that had been helping keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberals in power.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government鈥檚 three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party鈥檚 popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn鈥檛 be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca 星空传媒
Israel kills top Hezbollah figure in Beirut strike, Reuters sources say
Top Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil was killed on Friday in an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, two security sources told Reuters.
Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.
The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.
An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.
DEVELOPING Here's what we know about Israel's latest strike in Beirut
Israel鈥檚 military has struck the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon鈥檚 capital, in a dramatic escalation in a year-long period of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
Emergency crews in northern Ontario found the bodies of four people inside a home where a fire broke out Thursday night.
Passenger on a previous Titan sub dive says his mission was aborted due to apparent malfunction
A paid passenger on an expedition to the Titanic with the company that owned the Titan submersible testified before a U.S. Coast Guard investigatory panel Friday that the mission he took part in was aborted due to an apparent mechanical failure.
Cognitive decline reduced by MIND diet, especially for women and Black people, study finds
Following the MIND diet for 10 years produced a small but significant decrease in the risk of developing thinking, concentration and memory problems, a new study found.
The Montreal couple from Mexico and their three children facing deportation have received a temporary residence permit.
Local Spotlight
They say a dog is a man鈥檚 best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.
A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.
Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.
The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.
It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.
A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.
David Krumholtz, known for roles like Bernard the Elf in The Santa Clause and physicist Isidor Rabi in Oppenheimer, has spent the latter part of his summer filming horror flick Altar in Winnipeg. He says Winnipeg is the most movie-savvy town he's ever been in.
Edmontonians can count themselves lucky to ever see one tiger salamander, let alone the thousands one local woman says recently descended on her childhood home.