Standing Committee on the Status of Women

Comité permanent de la condition féminine

For immediate release

Ottawa, June 25, 2021 -

The House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women (the committee) today delivered a letter outlining the findings of its study on Midwifery Services Across Canada to federal and provincial ministers, including the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development, the Minister of Health, the Minister of Indigenous Services and the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion; and in Ontario, the Premier of Ontario, the Minister of Colleges and Universities, the Minister of Indigenous Affairs and the Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development.

The committee recognizes the important role midwives play in the health of individuals, families and communities in Canada. It undertook this study in response to the announcement in April 2021 of the closure of Laurentian University’s bilingual midwifery education program, located in Sudbury, Ontario.

The committee believes that midwives provide integral health care services to pregnant people and people giving birth in Canada and around the world.

The report is based on three briefs submitted to the committee and the testimony of 18 witnesses who appeared during three meetings held between May 6, 2021 and May 25, 2021. In its letter, the committee discusses the following issues specifically and presents possible solutions:

• the availability, scope and regulation of midwifery services across Canada;
• the benefits and importance of bilingual midwifery services and Indigenous midwifery services, particularly for rural, remote, northern and Indigenous communities;
• the challenges facing midwives across Canada, including being undervalued, experiencing burnout and receiving insufficient renumeration; and
• the potential ramifications of the closure of the bilingual Laurentian midwifery education program.

In its letter, the committee makes 13 recommendations to provide guidance to the Government of Canada on measures that it could implement to:

• help ensure the provision of bilingual midwifery education programs and midwifery education in the North;
• include Indigenous knowledge and practices in midwifery education;
• support midwives across the country; and
• facilitate the growth of the midwifery workforce in Canada.

The committee recognizes that the Government of Canada must work in collaboration with the provinces and territories on these issues, since the delivery of health services and education programs is their responsibility, to help ensure midwifery in Canada is valued, supported and continues to grow. While the committee examined federal measures that could support the provinces and territories in their delivery of these services across Canada, the Bloc Québécois raised concerns that some recommendations may reach beyond the federal government’s jurisdiction in these areas. The committee acknowledges and respects provincial jurisdictions in the areas of health and education and encourages the federal and provincial and territorial governments to work together to ensure that bilingual and culturally inclusive midwifery services are accessible to Canadians.

The letter and accompanying briefs and testimony can be consulted on the committee’s web page on the Parliament of Canada website.