Fixing Canada's complicated pathway for internationally trained nurses
Amidst a global healthcare workforce shortage, Canada has signalled that it is looking to attract over 400,000 new immigrants each year and accept 20,000 essential healthcare workers as permanent residents in order to respond to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
And yet, many foreign-trained health care professionals (such as internationally-educated nurses, or “IENs”) are languishing in jobs they are overqualified for as they try to navigate their way through Canada’s time-consuming and complex immigration and credential recognition.
It’s such a common story that it has become a cliché—the physician working as a taxi-driver, the nurse working as nanny. And no wonder: it has been estimated that the average nurse spends over $15,000 to achieve RN licensure over the course of 2-3 years!
Ensuring that Canada has the human capital to care for our aging population will require political will and a systemic reboot to ensure that we attract and certify international talent to care for Canada’s aging demographic.
To learn more on BCCPA's advocacy on health human resources visit: https://bccare.ca/hhr