Updates

As part of a new interpretation of the Canada Health Act that takes effect on 1 April 2026, the federal government is expanding public coverage for primary care provided by nurse practitioners, pharmacists and midwives. This change allows these clinicians, who are not family physicians, to bill their provincial or territorial government for medically necessary services typically provided by a family physician. By doing so, they can offer the full spectrum of care they are qualified to give, thereby relieving pressure on family physicians and providing unattached patients (those without a family physician) with a publicly insured alternative for their primary care needs. While expanding coverage enhances access to primary care, critics argue that this change undermines the role of family physicians in primary care and that the training nurse practitioners, pharmacists and midwives receive is insufficient to handle the complex medical issues that family physicians address. This change does not address the underlying shortage of family physicians in rural and underserved areas.