CFPC advocacy

As family doctors, we’re in the business of caring for others and trying to help solve their problems. However, in the political world, there are so many competing priorities it becomes challenging to know which problems to address and how. The good news is the challenges in primary care have become relevant to everyone. The CFPC’s responsibility is to help all Canadians, from politicians to the public, recognize this is a problem for all of us, identify challenges, and present specific solutions.

Unfortunately, lobbying and advocacy endeavours move at a glacial pace. While swift change can happen (eg, during COVID-19), most policies are developed through plodding incrementalism. However, the CFPC is the only national voice and professional home for family physicians, and we must continually advocate for our members and better health care for Canadians.

Canadians dutifully pay their taxes to support publicly funded health care, a cherished expression of our collective values of equity and fairness. While the CFPC has been warning decision makers for years about the coming storm in primary care, change can happen when voters feel the reality. In May 2022, an estimated 1000 British Columbians protested the shortages in primary care at the provincial legislature¹ and, in February 2023, the BC government announced the longitudinal family physician payment model.² Ontario’s shortage of family physicians, exemplified by hundreds of Walkerton citizens lining up in the cold for a family doctor,³ became a key electoral issue in 2025. When voters care, politicians are motivated and in turn direct public servants to act. The CFPC works and advocates with all 3 of these groups. Here are some examples of our advocating and lobbying:

• In 2009, we proposed the Patient’s Medical Home vision for team-based care.⁴ Our vision included a family doctor surrounded by a team of health care professionals that meets community needs. Various provinces have adopted elements of this vision but, recently, Prince Edward Island embraced it, in part due to the sustained effort of the CFPC and our Prince Edward Island Chapter.

• The CFPC and its Chapters have been advocating that everyone should have access to a family doctor (see the Ontario Chapter and the CFPC campaigns).⁵ To support this goal, we’ve consistently demanded improved compensation methods and amounts. Our efforts, combined with those of voters, have led to meaningful changes in compensation for more than half of the provinces, with some early signals of increases in family physician numbers.

• In a 2022 survey, you, our CFPC members, told us that your administrative burden weighed heavily on you. At the time, no one was talking about administrative burdens. Indeed, most, including the CFPC, were focused on system change. Administrative burden is something that decision makers can address now. Reducing the role of family doctors as gatekeepers for forms such as the disability tax credit or sick notes means more clinical time and less burn-out. Now, governments are using the phrase “administrative burden.” There’s still more to do, but the recognition of the issue is the first step and results from the CFPC’s sustained lobbying and championing of members.

These are just some of the reasons we go to Ottawa and meet with members of Parliament, senators, cabinet ministers, and public servants. Our work is why decision makers are aware of the crucial need to improve the family practice environment. It’s why they know about the importance of teams connected to a family doctor. It’s why they have administrative burden on their radar and are working with us on solutions. It’s why our Health Policy and Government Relations department has developed relationships with individuals from each of the major federal political parties as well as public servants. It’s why we have advertising campaigns directed at the public. Our work is about keeping the issues and the CFPC’s solutions in front of decision makers. This a constant undertaking and you may not see the results, but when action is taken, we’re already on to the next one.

We know that advocacy is important to you. Part of your dues fund our efforts and we want you to know that we keep the foot on the gas, making sure your concerns are heard by federal decision makers while Chapters are connecting with their provincial counterparts. We will continue to be the voice of family medicine, helping everyone from politicians to the public remember its value, identifying our challenges, and presenting specific solutions.

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