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.

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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, starting in 2023-24, 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."