Feds announce loan forgiveness for doctors & nurses in rural communities

Nipissing-Timiskaming MP Jay Aspin
News Release

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Jay Aspin, Member of Parliament for Nipissing-Timiskaming, announced today on behalf of the Honourable Diane Finley Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, and the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq Minister of Health that eligible family doctors, nurses and nurse practitioners who work in rural communities will have a portion of their Canada Student Loan forgiven starting in spring 2013. This will improve primary health care in rural communities.

“This initiative will do more than just attract new doctors and nurses to our region,” said MP Aspin. “It will also help youth from our region who have recently graduated from eligible programs return to their communities, family, and friends instead of having to move to larger cities. It is another promise made, promise kept from our policy program to help Canadian families in rural communities.”

In Economic Action Plan 2011, the Government announced that family doctors, nurses and nurse practitioners who began working in a designated community on, or after, April 1, 2012 will be eligible to apply for partial student loan forgiveness. This applies to most communities with a population of 50,000 or less, including communities that provide health services to First Nations, Inuit and Métis populations. Economic Action Plan 2012 further clarified that the measure will also include residents in family medicine.

“Primary health care services are a priority for our Government. Canadians rightly expect to receive quality health care no matter where they live,” said MP Aspin. “This initiative will encourage more health care professionals to work in the communities that need them most.”

Family doctors and residents in family medicine will be eligible to receive up to $8,000 per year in Canada Student Loan forgiveness to a maximum of $40,000 over five years; nurses and nurse practitioners will be eligible to receive up to $4,000 per year to a maximum of $20,000 over five years.

More information is available at www.actionplan.gc.ca.

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