Strengthening Canada’s Health Workforce Through Data:
Insights from the CAHSPR 2025 Workshop
By Ted McDonald & Carrie-Anne Whyte | May, 2025
On May 26, 2025, the Canadian Health Workforce Network (CHWN) participated in a collaborative workshop at the Canadian Association for Health Services and Policy Research (CAHSPR) annual conference. Co-hosted by the CAHSPR Health Workforce Theme Group and the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), the session brought together leading organizations for a timely and essential conversation about the future of health workforce data in Canada. The workshop continued the discussion from a webinar hosted by CIHR on April 3, 2024 entitled ‘Health Workforce Data in Canada: How to Optimize its Use Within Research’ that aimed to bridge the gap between data availability and research needs and was attended by more than 300 participants.
Building on the momentum of that event, the CAHSPR 2025 workshop served as a platform to showcase the rich data assets currently available across organizations, while also offering participants an opportunity to reflect on challenges and identify paths forward. The workshop brought together representatives from CIHR and from leading national data and research organizations who led break-out sessions to identify challenges and opportunities for optimizing data use in health workforce research and planning. These organizations included the Canadian Health Workforce Network (CHWN), the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), Health Workforce Canada (HWC), Statistics Canada, and the Health Data Research Network (HDRN) Canada.
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The workshop concluded with an engaging panel discussion where each organization shared how they are contributing to the evolving health workforce data ecosystem along with a facilitated Q+A.
The breakout sessions and closing panel discussion highlighted some key takeaway messages.
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1. Using the Data We Have:
Participants emphasized the importance of making better use of existing datasets. While gaps remain, there is a wealth of untapped information that can inform policy, planning, and decision-making in the short term. Organizations like CIHI and HDRN Canada can support and facilitate this access to data.
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2. Data Literacy and Education:
Building data literacy among decision-makers, health system leaders, and practitioners emerged as a priority. Better education around data use will empower stakeholders to interpret and apply insights effectively.
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3. Demonstration Projects:
Showcasing successful demonstration projects on health workforce data and research can highlight the value of data-driven approaches and encourage wider adoption across jurisdictions and organizations. Participants recommended that a forum or conference to share these projects could support the research community with data and knowledge mobilization efforts.
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4. Thinking About the Future:
Planning for the future of Canada’s health workforce requires forward-thinking data strategies. Anticipating trends, modeling scenarios, and preparing for system shocks are all crucial areas for development.
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5. Champions of Change:
Participants called for visible and vocal champions to advocate for better data use and to drive a culture shift towards evidence-informed decision-making.
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6. International Collaboration:
There is much to learn from global peers. Strengthening international collaboration can offer insights, tools, and frameworks that accelerate progress at home.
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7. Enabling Regulatory Change and Reducing Barriers:
Participants highlighted that enabling regulatory change and addressing barriers in privacy legislation are critical steps to support more effective use of health workforce data and broader system reform. Distributed analysis emerged as a promising solution—allowing researchers to generate insights from decentralized data sources without the need to move sensitive information across jurisdictions, thereby safeguarding privacy while supporting cross-provincial collaboration and evidence-informed decision-making.
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Overall, this workshop was a meaningful step toward a more integrated, responsive, and data-informed health workforce system in Canada. The participating organizations, all with significant roles in health human resources data and/or research, committed to strengthening partnerships and investing in the foundations of good data use. Together these organizations will help shape a stronger, more resilient future for our health workforce based on sound data and rigorous research.