NORTH VANCOUVER – New Democrat MLA Susie Chant says more people will benefit from more allied health professionals to support their health-care needs, as new training seats are added at Capilano University

“High-quality health care starts with training more health care providers,” said Susie Chant, MLA for North Vancouver-Seymour. “I’m excited to learn that CapU is gaining 20 new Rehabilitation Assistant seats, helping to create more opportunities and pathways for people to join B.C.’s health care workforce.”

The allied health workforce includes a range of professionals who provide preventative, diagnostic, technical, and therapeutic health care and clinical support services to patients. In North Vancouver-Seymour, Capilano University will be adding 20 new seats in the Rehabilitation Assistant program with the first intake starting in January, 2023.

In addition, the BC New Democrat government is providing bursaries to internationally-educated allied health professionals and existing health authority employees, to make training more affordable while helping to meet the demand for health professionals in B.C.

Investing in training more health care workers is a key pillar of the StrongerBC Economic Plan, which aims to close the skills gap with a generational commitment to accelerate talent development and skills training for British Columbians.

This expansion builds on recent investments in growing allied health programs from the BC New Democrat government. The Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Training provided $3.5 million to public post-secondary institutions in 2021/22 to begin the expansion of allied health seats throughout the province, with an investment of close to $18 million total planned to 2024. In addition to seat expansions, the Province is also investing more than $10 million in bursaries and professional development funding to help train, retain and support allied health professionals.

Learn more: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2022HLTH0047-001138