Profession
Nurse practitioners and registered nurses are gaining prescribing rights and public funding, and in New Zealand the Nursing Council itself has been reshaped by the Minister.
Under a new federal interpretation of the Canada Health Act, medically necessary care that nurse practitioners, pharmacists and midwives provide in place of a doctor is to be publicly funded. The policy took effect in April 2026, with penalties from April 2027. Ontario missed the deadline.
New Zealand's bill would let the Health Minister direct the health regulators on policy and let a ministerial committee overturn registration refusals. Parliament has since been dissolved for the November 2026 election.
No reforms tracked for this country yet.