Canadian licensing system overwhelmed by foreign nurse applicants

petgroomer · Apr 21, 2009

I truly don't get it, does the government actually pays $$$ to bring nurses to Canada??? and then left them stranded???

What I've seen is that bridging from RPN to RN in Ontario is a pain, I know three people who are caught in that mill and cannot find spots in any program. One of them was actually an RN in her country, assessed as RPN by CNO, and now trying to bridge back. Why not helping the people who are already here???

Is there a divorce between CIC immigrants intake and real workforce needs in Canada???

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Apr 21, 2009

I truly don't get it, does the government actually pays $$$ to bring nurses to Canada??? and then left them stranded???

Of course the governments, as the ultimate payors for Canadian health care, spend a lot of money to import nurses. They pay for the people who are responsible for assessing credentials, they pay for recruitment junkets to foreign cities, they pay for relocation costs (as much as $10,000 per person) for people offered employment, they pay for staffing and development of the bridging programs and the administration of all such programs, they pay for often extensive orientations once the new employees are in Canada... And the federal government pays for the immigration personnel who screen and document all the people who come over to do SEC, write the CRNE, etc, even the ones who aren't successful and thus can't stay. The group Fiona59 refers to has cost the Alberta taxpayer in the range of $1 million. They were between a rock and a hard place. The initial assessment porcess was inadequate and the people hired weren't capable of filling the jobs they were hired for. Since it wasn't the fault of the IENs that the process failed, they were offered an option that many of them took. For those who were still not successful, it's a tragedy but the reality is that the Canadian public must have competent care providers. So the government once again stepped in and paid for transprotation home for those who were not retained.

What I've seen is that bridging from RPN to RN in Ontario is a pain, I know three people who are caught in that mill and cannot find spots in any program. One of them was actually an RN in her country, assessed as RPN by CNO, and now trying to bridge back.

Unfortunately for your friend, that's not uncommon; each country has its own expectations and requirements of its nurses. In Canada those expectations are very high and our education programs are designed to produce people who can meet those expectations. We cannot water down our criteria to accommodate people from other countries; that wouldn't be fair to the people who are being educated here to exacting standards and it wouldn't be fair to the people who are receiving nursing care.

Why not helping the people who are already here???

Good question. The thing is, the shortage was so desperate that the provinces needed a quick fix. Upgrading local LPNs to RNs would have taken 2 years or more. So they opted to recruit already-educated nurses from outside of the country who should have been able to "hit the floor running". In reality the process is so lengthy that it really hasn't done what it was intended to and the discrepancy between education systems is another factor they didn't anticipate. So the whole thing kinda backfired.

Is there a divorce between CIC immigrants intake and real workforce needs in Canada???

Yes, there is. For all the reasons I've just explained.

Fiona59 · Apr 21, 2009

You've outlined the problem with the "bridge" programme -- PNs had to wait for a spot to be available for them after going through the hoops and hurdles to qualify for a spot. No drop outs in the first year of the BScN--no spots for the PNs who were qualified.