A recent announcement from British Columbia confirmed that foreign graduate nurses will no longer encounter some of the obstacles to registration that previously existed. Nursing professionals who re-enter the workforce following a break will be able to apply for fresh financial aid free of charge.
Provinces are now covering IEN application and assessment costs of more than $3,700. A provincial grant of up to $4,000 per person will additionally be provided to nurses who are resuming their careers after a break for assessments and legitimate travel expenses.
Providing nurses with support is a crucial component of our efforts to make health care accessible to all British Columbians. According to Premier David Eby, the number of nurses in BC is still greater than the number of nurses available. Although many skilled and smart nurses with the necessary experience wish to work in BC and contribute to high-quality care. The registration process is costly and difficult. If you are eager to serve British Columbians, we are prepared to accept nurses with training from anywhere in the world.
As part of its scholarship program for IENs, the BC government announced $12 million in scholarships in April 2022. Following the funding announcement, more than 5,000 individuals in British Columbia have expressed interest in becoming nurses. More than 2,000 of them are actively working on the registration and evaluation processes.
Following the changes, the BC College of Nurses and Midwives received 90% more applications for nursing positions overall.
Foreign graduate nurses are also being hired and retained in Ontario
Last October, Ontario took similar steps to facilitate travel for IENs. On October 15, the Ontario Ministry of Health, the Ontario College of Nurses, and the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons made several changes pertaining to:
- Enabling nurses with international training to enroll in a temporary class in order to help them get started more quickly while pursuing full licensure.
- Removing the requirement that a nurse practice for a specific amount of time before submitting an application for reinstatement to allow retired or inactive nurses to reenter the workforce.
- An Ontario physician from another province or territory will now be able to work for up to 90 days. They can work under a new temporary independent practice registration class.
In conjunction with these actions, a longer-term strategy was initiated. A number of additional foreign graduate nurses-related initiatives have been put into place since January 1 of this year that will speed up registration:
- Making registration decisions within a set timeframe requires health regulatory colleges.
- Exceptions include when international experience can be deemed equivalent to Canadian experience by health regulatory colleges.
- In order to reduce duplicate language proficiency testing for immigrants to Canada, we will be accepting language tests approved under the IRPA – (Immigration and Refugee Protection Act).
Other steps were taken by Ontario
Over 800 International Educated Nurses (IENs) were supported by the supervised practice experience partnership program. It is funded by the Ontario government from January to October of last year. As long as this program continues to be successful, 1,000 IENs will be supported by March 2021.
In order to support the nursing profession in Ontario, the province has invested $764 million. To help offset the costs associated with examinations, applications, and registration fees for the College of Nurses of Ontario. Additionally, this program offers nurses a retention bonus of up to $5,000. Moreover, the provincial government is temporarily covering the fees for College of Nurses of Ontario examinations, applications, and registrations, which have the potential to cost up to $1,500.
Why is Canada making such a big effort to recruit healthcare professionals?
An aging population is only one of the many issues that Canada’s healthcare institutions are currently experiencing. Moreover, this suggests that more people are seeking healthcare in the country. Additionally, a sizable portion of the workforce in this sector is nearing retirement.
The Canadian Federation of Nurses Union claims that the country has long faced a number of serious problems. Despite the pandemic, the paper claims that these difficulties existed before.
Despite this, many healthcare professionals unexpectedly worked longer shifts without even receiving adequate sleep during the pandemic. Consequently, most employees in this field have voluntarily taken time off or taken long absences to maintain their mental health.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, approximately 151,200 jobs were available in the healthcare sector as of October 2022. This number continues to be the highest among all occupational areas. Despite only a slight decline from the previous record of 152,800 openings. Since employment in healthcare and social support, fields is steadily declining. Even December data shows an urgent need for more personnel. Compared to other times in its history, Ontario has had the greatest number of employment losses.
