Background. High-quality data on the health workforce are critically needed across Canadian jurisdictions for effective health workforce analysis and planning in support of care delivery and strengthened health systems. This is particularly in the context of mobility across a uniquely decentralized health system. Objective. To describe the pan-Canadian data sources and identify key challenges and opportunities for optimizing data use for health workforce analysis and planning. Methods. We undertook an environmental scan of the literature and publicly available information on pan-Canadian data pathways to identify data sources, coverage, and alignment. We identify challenges associated with using these data for health workforce research and planning and provide insight into promising opportunities for improvement. Results. Two data custodians collate pan-Canadian health workforce data from administrative health sources (Canadian Institute for Health Information) and population survey sources with questions on labour activities (Statistics Canada). Both custodians maintain multiple datasets, each with notable strengths and limitations reflecting the breadth and depth of health workforce information. No sources were identified as having been designed primarily to inform health workforce planning, resulting in data silos, varying coverage, and often inadequate metadata standards. Despite the policy priority of enhancing interprofessional collaborations, when data have been used for health workforce analysis it often remains focused on a single sector or profession. Conclusions. Targeted investments into data standardization and interoperability, with more common data elements are among the key areas of improvement for enhancing cross-occupational and cross-jurisdictional health workforce analysis and planning.