Registered Nurse Job Prospects Canada 2014

joanna73, BSN, RN · Feb 5, 2014

Sorry to disappoint you, but the job market is terrible in AB and BC as well. In order to be hired anywhere in AB, you need to be an internal applicant with AHS UNLESS you don't mind working rural. Small towns are always hiring nurses, and that applies anywhere in Canada really.

All the cities are saturated with applicants and positions are slim, even for experienced nurses due to budget cuts. Overall, nursing has not improved since 2008. Everyone is working short and yet positions are being eliminated. Alberta is in a particularly dire state right now thanks to the Redford government.

Qing · Feb 5, 2014

Hi,

Thanks for the information. Its just that its very difficult to live on a casual position not knowing when or if you're going to be called. Its really depressing that even though I graduated in 2010 I still seem to have such a difficult time getting work. I recognize there are other people with this problem too, but its not a good feeling when you cannot even get a steady nursing job or even a nursing job.

Qing

sam89 · Feb 5, 2014

Where in Ontario do you live? There are RN jobs outside of the Ottawa region (Eastern Ontario) and some jobs northern Ontario. Compared to Alberta, Ontario isn't that bad (as long as you are not looking for a job in the GTA)

Qing · Feb 5, 2014

I live in Toronto and I would be willing to relocate outside of GTA. If you don't mind would you please tell me more about the RN jobs where you are?

sam89 · Feb 5, 2014

You can do a google search "RN jobs Ottawa area" and you will find various RN positions including the major hospitals in Ottawa (CHEO, The Ottawa Hospital, Queens Carleton Hospital) and it will also bring up the more rural hospitals in the towns outside of Ottawa.

Qing · Feb 20, 2014

Hey Sam89,

Sorry for the late answer but thanks for the information. I searched and am hoping that something comes up because I work with an agency and its hard to have stable hours. Even that is not enough and I end up going to work as labourer to make ends meet.

I do not know what is going to happen, but I will keep trying.

Qing

Qing · Feb 20, 2014

Hey Joanna89,

Just wondering did you move from Ontario to Alberta for work? I just would like to ask because it is really difficult here in Ontario. I know that GTA and Toronto are slim chances.

I think I was lucky to get work from an agency, but even that is not enough.

It is just hard to be motivated when you're getting turned down and you would like be given a chance to provide health services to others.

If anyone else has anything else that can help or just to motivate it would be appreciated. It is hard to be young and be so uncertain about what is going to happen. Planning on getting married, etc. or just family planning is difficult and hard to do with this uncertainty.

Trevor_Canada · Feb 20, 2014

I see in hospitals there are lots of foreign nurses working. If the job market is so terrible in Canada, I think the nurse union should be something to restrict the number of foreign nurses working in Canada. Local graduates should be given the first priority.

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Feb 21, 2014

I see in hospitals there are lots of foreign nurses working. If the job market is so terrible in Canada, I think the nurse union should be something to restrict the number of foreign nurses working in Canada. Local graduates should be given the first priority.

It's not quite that simple. Nursing employment follows the boom and bust vagaries of the economy. When times are good, health region budgets get pumped up, new beds are open and there aren't enough nurses to go around. When vacancies don't attract any applicants locally, recruiting spreads far and wide. People in other countries who want to better their lives jump at the chance to do it and have help with all the logistics - really, who can blame them? So we see a wave of IENs hired... and then the bust comes, budgets get slashed to the bone and suddenly there are "too many nurses" - not really, just too much money in salaries. Nursing unions have no real leverage to force employers to do anything, especially in provinces with punitive essential services laws that make any kind of job action illegal, like Alberta. How would you propose the unions go about restricting IEN employment? And what do you propose should happen to those IENs who, having jumped through every hoop placed in front of them in order to become registered and employed in Canada, now have friends, community connections and roots here?

Trevor_Canada · Feb 21, 2014

How would you propose the unions go about restricting IEN employment?

Central idea: The union, immigration department, or whatever the authority, should ensure the local graduates be given the first priority for employment. When there is a genuine nursing shortage, then the foreign nurses should be brought in.

That's the basic idea. Off course there are many factors to consider.

-Who, when, how, makes the determination of a "genuine" nursing shortage. What kind of data to use. How to ensure this data is accurate and unbiased.

-How the legal process will be like. Who is there to legislate, and can the legislation passed only based on the data?

etc...

Yes, like your question. There are indeed many things to consider.

And what do you propose should happen to those IENs who, having jumped through every hoop placed in front of them in order to become registered and employed in Canada, now have friends, community connections and roots here?

If the labor market needs them, they can stay. If the market doesn't need them, they can go. I know it's not as simple as this.

To summarize, my idea is Canadian citizens who grew up and went school here should be the first ones to get jobs. If you agree, ok. If you disagree, and ask me how this can work. I can't answer without doing further research. Maybe I can write a paper on this next year.

Thanks for the insight about up and downs in hiring nurses. I've taken first year foundation courses but we never learned how the labor market is like.

Silverdragon102, BSN · Feb 21, 2014

So you are saying that after someone has jumped through hoops to live and work in Canada should be ignored for a local nurse. I think I will disagree with you there. It isn't cheap or easy to gain PR in Canada and once in Canada until they decide they want to become a citizen they are and should be treated like everyone else. They should go under the same considerations as local nurses and the best one gets the job.