Canadian provinces provide additional benefits to immigrant nurses as a new strategy to retain more of them. Canada celebrated International Nurses Day on May 12 to make sure that they acknowledge the efforts of these healthcare workers.
This is also because Canada continued to experience the pandemic’s negative influence and the aging population’s rise. Hence, the country still requires an increasing number of nurses.
Reportedly, the latest job vacancy data reveals that, onwards January 2023, the healthcare and social assistance sector had around 162,100 vacant job openings. So far, this continues to be the highest number of job openings. The Canadian provinces and the federal government believe that there are two essential requirements to address the labor shortage pertaining to Internationally Educated Nurses. They’re as follows:
- Immigration; and
- Expediting the credential recognition for Internationally Educated Nurses.
In-demand Nurses
The lack of nurses in Canadian healthcare was a problem even before the epidemic. Many nurses were experiencing poor mental health and exhaustion, according to 2022 research by the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU). Throughout the epidemic, this resulted in widespread resignations among medical staff.
After the March 28th announcement of Budget 2023, the CFNU reported a survey that revealed four out of ten nurses are now thinking about leaving their jobs, primarily because of heavy workloads and inadequate staffing levels, while one in two younger, early-career nurses exhibit signs of clinical burnout.
Canadian provinces provide additional benefits to immigrant nurses
The provinces are in charge of providing healthcare. They are working to mitigate some of the obstacles IENs could encounter after entering Canada and draw more foreign nurses to Canada. In particular, many nurses have trouble obtaining the required accreditation to practice in Canada.
The provinces of Canada are making commendable efforts to recruit and retain more nurses in response to this problem. Here are a few illustrations.
Alberta
Alberta declared in February that government would spend more than $15 million to support and train more IENs. The money includes $7.8 million for students to receive bursaries of up to $30,000. With the remaining money, three colleges in Alberta will provide 600 new places for nurse bridging programs.
Alberta and the Philippines have also signed a memorandum of agreement to simplify hiring Filipino registered nurses and licensed practical nurses.
British Columbia
Recent changes to the nurse-to-patient ratio in British Columbia will vary depending on the care provided. For instance, there will be a 1:1 ratio between an ICU nurse and a ventilated patient. To guarantee that patients receive the appropriate care and that nurses are not overworked, this is done.
Additionally, the province now pays over $3,700 in application and assessment expenses for IENs. For nurses returning to practice after a break, BC will further contribute up to $4,000 per person to pay assessments and qualified travel expenses.
Manitoba
In November 2022, Manitoba unveiled its Health Human Resource Action Plan. The government also pledged to hire 2,000 more healthcare professionals, spend $200 million on retaining, training, and hiring healthcare professionals across the province, and do away with mandatory overtime.
Canadian provinces provide additional benefits to immigrant nurses- what about Nova Scotia?
Tim Houston, the premier of Nova Scotia, declared on March 20 that the province’s nurses would receive $10,000 as an appreciation incentive. A further $10,000 will be given the following year to those who sign a two-year return of service contract before the end of March 2024.
Additionally, on overseas hiring missions to Kenya, Singapore, the UAE, and the UK, the province made 154 conditional offers for healthcare professionals, including nurses.
Ontario
The following colleges implemented several reforms in October 2022:
- Firstly, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario
- The Ontario Ministry of Health
- The College of Nurses in Ontario
The above institutions brought forth the following changes:
- Enabling nurses with international training to enroll in a temporary class and start working sooner while they pursue complete registration;
- Offering flexibility to the restriction that they must have practiced nursing within a particular amount of time before seeking reinstatement;
- Making it simpler for retired or non-practicing nurses to return to the field;
- Easing out for doctors from other provinces and territories to work for up to 90 days in Ontario by establishing a new temporary independent practice registration class.
Additionally, on January 1, 2023, a few other changes took place; they’re as follows:
- Impose time constraints on health regulatory colleges so that they can make registration decisions;
- With some exceptions, such as when comparable international experience is recognized;
- Prohibit health regulatory colleges from requiring Canadian work experience for the purpose of registration;
- Take language exams that the IRPA has authorized to limit the number of immigrants to Canada who must undergo further language testing.
Canadian provinces provide additional benefits to immigrant nurses
Arriving in Canada as a Nurse
There are numerous programs designed especially for healthcare professionals among more than 100 economic immigration schemes in Canada.
The FSWP and the CEC (Canadian Experience Class), for example, both accept applicants through Express Entry who are nurses.
An additional well-liked route for nurses is the Provincial Nominee Program. The PNP gives provinces the opportunity to choose qualified immigrants they believe have the highest possibility of establishing themselves economically in the province and being able to fill labor shortages there.
- Through its Human Capital Priorities Stream, Ontario accepts nurses’ applications.
- British Columbia has a Skills Immigration and Express Entry track with a Healthcare Professional category.
- Saskatchewan created a pool of EOIs for international health workers, just for nurses.
- On certain occasions, draws are held by Nova Scotia’s Labour Market Priorities Stream encouraging nurses to apply for a provincial nomination.
- The Internationally Educated Nurses program in New Brunswick offers a route for overseas nurses who speak either English or French.
