Healthcare Quarterly

Healthcare Quarterly 16(1) January 2013 : 97-98.doi:10.12927/hcq.2013.23318
Facts-at-a-Glance

Canada's Health Workforce: A Snapshot

Regulated Nurses

  • More than 360,000 regulated nurses were employed in Canada in 2011, representing an increase of approximately 8% since 2007. This total includes registered nurses, nurse practitioners, registered psychiatric nurses1 and licensed practical nurses.
  • The number of regulated nurses per 100,000 population also increased between 2007 and 2011, from 1,011 to 1,046.
  • The average age of regulated nurses in Canada was 44.8 in 2011.
  • More than 56% of regulated nurses were employed on a full-time basis in 2011, a slight increase from 2007.
  • Between 2007 and 2011, the number of nurse practitioners doubled from 1,344 to 2,777. This growth is due, in part, to increased provincial/territorial investment in NPs and in part to additional jurisdictions submitting NP data to CIHI.

(Canadian Institute for Health Information. Regulated Nurses: Canadian Trends, 2007 to 2011. Ottawa, ON: CIHI; 2012.)

alternate text

Occupational Therapists (OTs)

  • From 2006 to 2011, the supply of registered occupational therapists (OTs) grew by 14.6%, reaching a total of 13,501.
  • The OT workforce was predominantly female (91.8%) and more than half (55.6%) were younger than 40 years.
  • Nearly two-thirds of the OT workforce (62.8%) were employed on a full-time basis, one-third (33.0%) on a part-time basis.
  • Just more than 7% of the OT workforce (7.1%) was educated outside of Canada, while the remainder (92.8%) obtained their basic education in occupational therapy in Canada

Pharmacists

  • The supply of registered pharmacists in Canada grew by 19.8% between 2006 and 2011 reaching a total of 32,132.
  • More than half of pharmacists in 2011 were female (59.7%) and the average age was 43.5 years.
  • Of the five jurisdictions (Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta, B.C. and Yukon) whose data was included in the international graduate analysis, 27.4% of pharmacists were educated outside of Canada.
  • Findings indicated that more than three-quarters of the pharmacist workforce (75.4%) was employed in community pharmacies, followed by 18.7% employed in hospitals and other health care facilities. A higher percentage of males (83.4%) worked in community pharmacies than females (70.1%).
  • Almost two-thirds (64.2%) of pharmacists were employed as staff pharmacists, followed by 29.8% who were employed as pharmacy owners/managers. A higher percentage of males (44.4%) worked as pharmacy owners/managers than females (20.0%).

(Canadian Institute for Health Information. Pharmacists in Canada, 2011 – National and Jurisdictional Highlights. Ottawa, ON:CIHI; 2012)

Physiotherapists

  • The supply of registered physiotherapists in Canada grew by 7.5% between 2007 and 2011 (excluding the Northwest Territories and Nunavut), reaching a total of 17,653.
  • More than three-quarters of physiotherapists in 2011 were female (77.1%) and the average age was 41.9 years.
  • More than one-tenth (11.9%) of practising physiotherapists were educated outside of Canada.
  • Findings indicate that the physiotherapist workforce was employed almost equally in hospital settings (39.7%) and group or solo professional practice settings (36.9%), with community settings accounting for 12.9%.
  • Almost half (49.5%) of physiotherapists worked in the public sector.

(Canadian Institute for Health Information. Physiotherapists in Canada, 2011 – National and Jurisdictional Highlights. Ottawa, ON: CIHI; 2012)

Medical Radiation Technologists (MRT)

  • In 2011, Canada had 17,674 registered MRTs in the workforce.
  • In 2011, the majority of MRTs were female, representing approximately 80% of the registered workforce and the average age of the MRT workforce was 42;
  • The majority of MRTs in seven provinces (Newfoundland and Labrador, P.E.I., New Brunswick, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta) and the three territories, in 2011, held a diploma (approximately 94%) as their basic level of education for entry to practice.
  • In 2011, for all jurisdictions except Nova Scotia, Alberta and B.C., the majority (84.6%) of MRTs were permanent employees, while more than 12% had either temporary or casual employment.
  • For all jurisdictions combined (except Nova Scotia, Ontario, Saskatchewan and B.C.) in 2011, more than three-quarters (76.4%) of MRTs worked in a hospital setting, ranging from 55.2% in Alberta to 96.0% in New Brunswick, reflecting different organizational structures and unique ways of delivering medical imaging services across the jurisdictions. More than one-tenth (13.4%) of MRTs worked in a free-standing imaging facility/clinic, while 3.9% worked in a cancer care centre.

(Canadian Institute for Health Information. Medical Radiation Technologists in Canada, 2011. Ottawa, ON: CIHI; 2012.)

Medical Laboratory Technologists (MLT)

  • In 2011, Canada had 19,664 registered MLTs in the workforce.
  • In 2011, the majority of MLTs were female, representing 85.4% of the workforce in the regulated provinces. Ontario had the lowest percentage of females (82.2%) and Saskatchewan had the highest (93.0%) and the average age for all MLTs in the regulated provinces was 45;
  • In 2011, the majority of MLTs in the regulated provinces held a diploma (91.3%) as their basic level of education for entry to practice.
  • In 2011, the top three areas in which MLTs practised were clinical chemistry (18.4%), hematology (16.5%) and transfusion medicine/science (13.6%) for Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and Alberta.
  • More than three-quarters (76.5%) of MLTs in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Manitoba and Alberta worked in a hospital setting in 2011. A small number of MLTs worked in other settings, such as centralized diagnostic laboratories (7.3%), free-standing diagnostic laboratories (3.1%), public health laboratories/departments/units (2.6%), blood transfusion centres (1.9%) and post-secondary educational institutions (1.6%).

(Canadian Institute for Health Information. Medical Laboratory Technologists in Canada, 2011. Ottawa, ON: CIHI; 2012.)

Sources:

Breast Cancer Surgery in Canada, 2007-2008 to 2009-2010 Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) and the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer.

Footnotes

1 Registered psychiatric nurses are regulated separately in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia and Yukon. CIHI data does not include RPNs in Yukon.

Comments

Be the first to comment on this!

Note: Please enter a display name. Your email address will not be publically displayed