58% of IEHPs in Canada are working in their fields, according to Statistics Canada’s latest report. The Internationally Educated Healthcare Professionals possess official training to work as nurses, dentists, pharmacists, and Physicians. In Canada, out of 259,694 IEHPs, nearly 76 percent are working in their study fields only. This data is in comparison to 80 percent of Canadian-educated healthcare professionals. Also, it includes the IEHPs not employed in healthcare occupations.
58% of IEHPs in Canada are working in their fields
IRCC data demonstrates that immigrants’ share in the healthcare sector is nearly a quarter, which is likely to increase. 500,000 healthcare professionals are above 55 and will retire in the following decade.
Furthermore, Statistics Canada also revealed that 50 percent of IEHPs in Canada had immigrated during their prime working age. This is merely between 25 and 34 years. On the other hand, only one-third of the IEHPs had arrived in Canada between 2016 and 2021.
Also, two-thirds of them were relatively younger than 50 years, and mostly, 7 out of 10 IEHPs in the country turned out to be females.
Where do these IEHPs primarily reside in Canada?
The maximum number of IEHPs, nearly 116,310, were in Ontario, 45,235 were in British Columbia, and 42,035 were living in Alberta.
On the other hand, Canada’s Northern Territories and Atlantic provinces comprise the lowest number of IEHPs. On the other hand, Prince Edward Island has as few as 475 IEHPs, and the remaining three territories have 605 IEHPs. Besides this, Nova Scotia consists of 3,195 IEHPs.
The locations where the IEHPs settle the most
The latest study also found that nearly 63 percent of IEHPs completed their studies in Asia. Additionally, 11 percent had acquired their education from a Western country with English as the primary language.
Nearly 75 percent of IEHPs in Manitoba had acquired their education from Asia. On the other hand, 21 percent of IEHPs in New Brunswick had been educated in an English-speaking Western country.
Defining their jobs
Statistics Canada claimed that one-third of IEHPs in Canada were trained to be nurses. Among them, the five chief occupations were categorized as follows:
- Registered Nurses and Psychiatric Nurses – 34 percent
- Nurse Aides, Orderlies, and Patient Service Associates – 21 percent
- Licensed Practical Nurses – 8 percent
- Light Duty Cleaners – 2 percent
- Social and Community Workers – 2 percent
IEHPs with official training to work as Physicians contribute to 15 percent of all IEHPs in the country. Mostly, these lived in Newfoundland and Labrador. 74 percent of IEHPs in this province occupied the healthcare sector in Canada, and this is the highest population in healthcare occupations.
Other provinces, including Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia, had increased employment rates of IEHPs employed in the healthcare fields. This accounts for 65 percent. However, only 46 percent of IEHPs had employment in the healthcare professions. This is concerning the rest of Canada.
Healthcare sector and the existing labor shortage
Statistics Canada’s latest job vacancy data states that around 147,100 job vacancies existed in June 2023. The IEHP reports claim that the overall increasing number of IEHPs in Canada has already led to numerous new immigrants contributing effectively to combating the healthcare workforce shortage.
The primary cause of IEHPs finding it challenging to get work in Canada is the inability to attain proper licensing as a regulated professional. This is because each province or territory in the country has a separate regulatory body with varied requirements in healthcare professions.
However, the provinces are taking several initiatives to remove barriers for IEHPs. For instance, Nova Scotia lets registered international nurses with a proper license access the expedited pathway. This initiative enables them to practice as a registered nurse in the following countries:
- India
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Philippines
- Nigeria
- UK
- US
Furthermore, Ontario has brought forth numerous legislation aspects, including the following:
- Health regulatory colleges must adhere to the standard timeframes while making registration decisions and
- Restricting health regulatory colleges from seeking Canadian work experience for registration purposes (certain exceptions exist).
- IRCC also developed six new categories under Express Entry to select suitable candidates. These include candidates with more potential to fit the occupation rather than having higher CRS scores. From 2023 until now, around 2,000 invitations have been issued to those in the healthcare profession.
- In 2022, in October, IRCC let the temporary residents already employed in the healthcare sector as Physicians gain eligibility for Express Entry application. However, this wasn’t the case previously, as most physicians fell under the self-employed category.
