'We're building that pipeline,' says interim HR executive
Prince Edward Island has extended job offers to 101 internationally educated nurses following three overseas recruitment trips that cost taxpayers nearly $230,000, according to a report.
The trips took place in 2023 and 2024. Specifically, the missions targeted the following countries, involved a few Health P.E.I. staff, and totalled tens of thousands of dollars in expenses, according to CBC:
- Dubai, March 2023: Five attendees, $65,391 total expenses.
- Singapore, October 2023: Four attendees, $89,321 total expenses.
- Dubai, February 2024: Seven attendees, $74,257 total expenses.
Provincial recruiters say the investment is already paying dividends.
"I think that the proof of that is the fact that we have people who have letters of offer from Health P.E.I., so we're building that pipeline," said Maura McKinnon, Health P.E.I.’s interim human resources executive, in the CBC report.
"We need to have individuals who are coming into our system on a regular basis and individuals who have the experience and expertise to be able to provide the service that's required."
Recruited internationally trained nurses will eventually have to go through a 14-week program that will certify them to work in Canada, notes CBC.
Numerous Canadian provinces have been actively recruiting healthcare workers from the United States.
In 2024, Green MLA Matt MacFarlane put forward a motion in the provincial legislature to have the government roll out the rest of the retention bonuses set aside for healthcare workers in the province. However, 13 MLAs voted no on the motion, including all nine PC cabinet ministers who voted, according to a previous CBC report. The provincial government previously set aside $8 million for the retention bonuses of healthcare workers. However, only about half of that was ever spent, CBC noted.
Union welcomes P.E.I.’s recruitment of nurses
Barbara Brookins, president of the P.E.I. Nurses' Union, supports the P.E.I. government’s efforts to recruit internationally trained nurses.
"If we can bring in nurses ethically — so bringing them in from countries that have a surplus — then that's certainly a way of adding to our numbers," she says in the CBC report.
"We can't put enough nurses through nursing schools right now to… manage even the regular transition of people retiring on the other end."
P.E.I. is currently looking to fill 500 permanent nursing positions, according to CBC.
Overall, Canada’s healthcare sector had 78,600 unfilled positions in the third quarter of 2024. That was the second consecutive quarterly decline after six consecutive quarters of little change since the peak in the third quarter of 2022, when job vacancies in health occupations reached 97,400, notes the federal government.
“This gap underscores the urgent need to continue to attract and integrate qualified professionals to maintain the quality and accessibility of healthcare services across the country,” says the Employment and Social Development Canada.
Brookins notes: "If we can bring in nurses that are already trained and just provide them with that transitional background for them to acclimate into the Canadian health system, then it's a benefit for everybody.”
The union is talking with internationally trained nurses recruited into the province to inform them about their entitlements, especially in the matter of compensation. Currently, these nurses are largely unaware that “they can get paid based on their years of experience, regardless of where they developed their skills,” says Brookins.
In 2023, the National Nursing Assessment Service (NNAS) launched an expedited credentialing service to make the process easier for internationally educated nurses (IENS) looking to practice in Canada.
Previously, P.E.I. encouraged immigrants in the province whose work permits are set to expire to consider signing up for a training program for in-demand occupations in the island.
