INTER-JURISDICTIONAL LICENSURE

A regulated health professional in Canada requires a license to practice in the jurisdiction in which they are providing service. There is variation in the criteria and process for health profession licensure between different health professions, and for the same profession between different provinces and territories. The number of regulated health professions also varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction in Canada. Alberta has twenty-nine regulated health professions. 

 

There is concern that jurisdiction-specific licensure can pose a barrier to continuity of patient care and potentially impair care to those individuals who must cross jurisdictional boundaries for health services. Similarly, there are concerns that universal or transportable virtual care licensure may create inequities of service by disincentivizing in-person care in some locations in Canada. 

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Understanding that all health professional regulators share a common mandate to uphold quality care, the Inter-jurisdictional Health Professional Licensure Working Group aims to evaluate, define, and consider the potential to articulate a common approach to digital-age health professional licensure that supports inter-jurisdictional quality of care.