News

Written Submission for the Pre-Budget Consultations in Advance of the 2026 Federal Budget

2026-05-11

Recommendations

Deliver on the federal government’s promise to provide $400 million over four years, to reduce administrative burden on family physicians by allocating it to:
1. Fund long-term adoption of AI scribe technology for family physicians.
2. Streamline inefficient federal form processes by reforming the Disability Tax Credit and Canada Pension Plan Disability benefit programs.
Advance digital health interoperability by swiftly passing the Connected Care for Canadians Act (Bill S-5), followed by robust regulations and funding.
Deliver on the federal government’s promise of $300 million over three years, toward a new-practice fund for family doctors.
Invest in community-based family medicine training infrastructure through the federal government’s Health Infrastructure Fund.
Deploy targeted investments to support the federal government’s “Improving Access to Health Care in the Arctic and the North” initiative, in consultation with local family physician experts.

Introduction

Family physicians are the foundation of Canada’s health care system, shown to lead better health outcomes and a more cost-efficient health care system. For example:

A family physician visit costs approximately $54 on average, compared to $304 for an average emergency department visit and over $7,800 for an average hospital stay.
Every $1 invested in primary care can generate up to $13 in downstream savings, including reduced emergency, hospital, and specialist costs.
Patients without a regular family doctor use other specialist services approximately 30 per cent more, compared to those with long-term attachment to a family doctor.
Every additional 10 family physicians per 100,000 population is associated with 40 fewer hospital admissions.

Despite this impact, family medicine receives less than six per cent of total health spending in Canada while delivering over half of all medical services. Close to six million Canadians are without a regular family doctor.

To close this gap, the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) proposes targeted federal funding allocations aligned with government commitments and current initiatives, to strengthen family medicine across Canada.

Federal Budget 2026 Recommendations in Detail

Recommendation One: Fulfill the commitment to provide $400 million over four years to reduce administrative burden on family physicians.

Administrative burden has been linked with family physicians leaving practice, cutting back their hours, and discouraging medical students from going into the specialty.

The federal government’s 2025 campaign platform earmarked $100 million per year to reduce administrative burden, in its Fiscal and Costing Plan. They also committed to reduce red tape and “streamline inefficient or complicated processes, including excessive paperwork or forms.” The federal government should pursue the following solutions, to translate these promising commitments into action.

A. Fund long-term adoption of AI scribe technology

AI scribes reduce administrative burden by transcribing and summarizing patient interactions, updating electronic medical records, and generating referral letters, among other tasks. Evidence shows that AI scribes can save about 64 minutes per day, which could allow family doctors to see up to four additional patients per day and also reduce cognitive burden, allowing family physicians to be more present during patient encounters.

Yet, only 28 per cent of physicians use AI scribes, due to financial and structural barriers. Annual licence fees, which range from $800 to $2,000, can be difficult to absorb within already strained budgets of family practices. While some financial supports exist, these initiatives do not provide the long‑term certainty needed to adopt AI tools. Uncertainty around issues such as liability along with limited interoperability with existing systems also hinder uptake.

To address this, the CFPC calls on the federal government to fully cover AI scribe annual subscriptions for all family doctors in Canada. Additionally, the federal government should pass legislation, such as the Connected Care for Canadians Act (Bill S-5) and the proposed Artificial Intelligence and Data Act, to shift data security responsibility away from physicians and toward AI solution vendors.

Federal investment in AI scribes would reduce administrative burden, strengthen practice sustainability, and contribute toward making comprehensive family medicine a more attractive career choice.

B. Streamline inefficient federal form processes by reforming the Disability Tax Credit and Canada Pension Plan Disability benefit programs

Reforms to the Disability Tax Credit (DTC) program

The DTC is the most burdensome federal form family physicians must complete. In 2024, 330,000 DTC applications consumed time equivalent to nearly one million patient visits. The Canada Disability Benefit, which uses the DTC for eligibility, is expected to increase applications by over 50 per cent in coming years, further worsening paperwork burden.

The CFPC welcomes the Spring Economic Update 2026, which expands conditions for a simplified DTC form and broadens the range of professionals authorized to certify it. However, these efforts will not fully resolve the excessive reliance on family physicians to act as gatekeepers for the DTC.

The CFPC urges the federal government to amend the Income Tax Act Section 118.3 to eliminate the requirement for family doctors to complete the DTC form, replacing it with an auditing system. In addition to the measures announced in the Spring Economic Update 2026, in the short term, the DTC should: 1) be simplified by reducing the length of the form; 2) enable pre-eligibility through other disability supports like provincial/territorial benefits or parallel federal programs; and 3) compensate family physicians for their time to avoid shifting costs to patients. These recommendations are strongly supported by patient and disability advocates (e.g., Disability Without Poverty).

Budget 2025’s plan for automatic tax filing for low-income Canadians signals a shift toward a simpler, citizen-focused process to access tax benefits. The DTC should follow this direction to improve equity and efficiency in both health care and tax systems.

Reforms to the Canada Pension Plan Disability benefit (CPPD) program

In addition to the DTC, family doctors have also shared that the CPPD federal form is a major contributor to their administrative burden.

Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) has been collaborating with the CFPC to integrate family physician feedback to develop a simplified CPPD form. These updates should be implemented in a timely manner to avoid prolonging the burden posed by the CPPD form on family physicians.

To enable this, the CFPC calls on the federal government to provide ESDC targeted support and investment to advance CPPD reforms, including delivering a simplified CPPD medical report form without delay. Compensation for completing the CPPD form must be updated immediately as well, as it currently falls below industry standards for medical forms. Further, federal investment should support long-term improvements demonstrated to reduce red tape. Timely implementation would reduce administrative burden on family physicians and improve the experience of patients with disability, who depend on the program.

Recommendation Two: Advance digital health interoperability by swiftly passing the Connected Care for Canadians Act (Bill S-5), followed by robust regulations and funding.

Across Canada, digital health systems still do not connect. Only 29 per cent of physicians can electronically share patient information with another health care facility. For family physicians this makes critical patient information harder to access when care crosses settings or jurisdictions.

Digital health interoperability reduces administrative burden, improves care coordination, and enables effective use of digital tools, including AI. The federal government’s introduction of the Connected Care for Canadians Act (Bill S-5) is a positive step in establishing interoperability standards and prohibiting data blocking.

Following the passage of legislation, the Digital Health Interoperability Task Force (DHITF) has outlined recommendations to create a truly digital health environment, including:

Establishing a national standard setting body to ensure the enforcement of current standards.
Creating a public registry to verify that vendors meet required standards and build a complaints process to report data blocking and publish vendor histories.
Funding community-based family practices, which face unique financial needs and manage their own digital systems. Without targeted support, the costs of interoperability may fall on family physicians, threatening the sustainability of their practices.

Advancing digital interoperability will make sure health information flows securely and effortlessly, empowering patients and supporting family physicians.

Recommendation Three: Deliver on the federal government’s campaign promise of $300 million over three years, toward a new-practice fund for family doctors.

The federal government made an encouraging pledge to create a “new-practice fund to help family doctors with the costs of opening a practice.” However, there has been no progress on this to date.

Starting a family practice requires significant upfront investment. Ongoing overhead can range from 28 per cent to 75 per cent of gross income, creating a substantial barrier to entering or maintaining a full-scope family practice. This can shape career decisions, with early-career physicians delaying practice establishment, avoiding underserviced areas, opting for short-term or locum work, or leaving comprehensive family medicine altogether.

A well-designed new-practice fund would address these barriers by providing targeted support for start-up and early operating costs, including clinic set-up, team-based care infrastructure, and modern digital tools needed for efficient, high-quality care.

This fund can be a high-impact investment to improve patient access by enabling more family physicians to enter and remain in community-based practice, particularly in underserved areas. It will also help keep family medicine a viable and attractive career path for new graduates.

Recommendation Four: Invest in community-based family medicine training infrastructure through the federal government’s Health Infrastructure Fund (HIF).

The HIF, announced in Budget 2025, is a welcome opportunity to invest in community-based family medicine training infrastructure that is currently strained, especially in the face of new training spots being added to address unmet demand for more family doctors.

Training in community-based settings is one of the most effective ways to address Canada’s growing need for family physicians. Investments through the HIF could help provinces and territories construct new teaching clinics and expand or modernize existing sites, making sure they have the clinical rooms, team spaces, and digital infrastructure required for high-quality training. Strengthening and staffing these environments would be greatly beneficial to learners and preceptors while also increasing training capacity to support long-term improvements in access to primary care.

While collaboration with provinces and territories is fundamental to HIF implementation, the federal government can shape funding criteria and expectations. These parameters should clearly include community-based family medicine training as a priority and ensure projects reflect primary care needs.

Recommendation Five: Advance the federal government’s “Improving Access to Health Care in the Arctic and the North” initiative, in concert with northern family physicians.

The CFPC welcomes Budget 2025’s plan to improve health care across the Arctic and the North. Northern health systems face unique challenges. Continued engagement with family physicians and northern partners is critical to make sure investments are practical and responsive to local needs. Broader system enablers mentioned in this submission also apply: investments in interoperable digital systems (Recommendation 2) help patient information follow individuals across jurisdictions, while community-based training infrastructure (Recommendation 4) can support recruitment and retention of family physicians in northern and remote communities. The CFPC would welcome the opportunity to discuss these solutions and others further.

Conclusion

Funding family medicine is not a luxury – it is one of the most cost-effective health care investments governments can make. When Canadians have access to a family doctor they are healthier, rely less on emergency departments and hospitals, and the system functions efficiently.

The recommendations in this submission are purposely grounded in investments that can be implemented in the near term and built on commitments already made. Strengthening family medicine is essential to improving access, enhancing system performance, and ensuring a healthier and stronger Canada.

About the CFPC

The voice of family medicine in Canada

The CFPC is the professional organization that represents more than 47,000 members across the country. It establishes the standards for and accredits postgraduate family medicine training in Canada’s 18 medical schools. It reviews and certifies continuing professional development programs and materials that enable family physicians to meet certification and licensing requirements. The CFPC provides high-quality services, supports family medicine teaching and research, and advocates for the specialty of family medicine, family physicians, and the patients they serve.

Contact

Artem Safarov
Director, Health Policy and Government Relations
College of Family Physicians of Canada
905-629-0900, ext.249; 1-800-387-6197, ext. 249
[email protected]