Abstract

Each day Canadians make many decisions that affect how likely they are to need different types of healthcare in the future. These choices include whether to smoke, what to eat, and how much to exercise. Healthcare providers, organizations, governments and others also make far-reaching decisions that affect how likely different healthcare services are to be available in the future. Examples include how many training spots to fund, what types of healthcare facilities to build and where, and how to organize and deliver healthcare services.
Health human resource planning takes place in this complex and dynamic context. At the outset, tracking the numbers of healthcare professionals can provide important insights for planning. Over 1.5 million people work in the Canadian health and social services sector in regulated and unregulated professions (CIHI 2001).