Canada's nurses are heading south of the border and towards greener pastures—in the midst of a healthcare worker shortage, no less.
Driving the news: Canada is suffering an exodus of nursing talent that shows no sign of stopping. As nurses seek out less strenuous working conditions and (much) higher pay, they’re transferring their credentials to the US at double the rate seen five years ago.
- Pay problems have been especially acute in Ontario thanks to a law that caps wage growth for nurses to 1% a year until April 30 of next year.
Why it matters: The healthcare sector reported over 109k job vacancies last quarter—a ~23% increase from the year prior and the second most of any sector behind only food services (which, as much as we love grabbing a bite to eat, is far less concerning).
Zoom out: From Thunder Bay, to Winnipeg, to Fredericton, healthcare professionals are flooding the news with horror stories of overflowing hospitals and staff shortages.
- Canada isn’t just low on nurses, but doctors, too. Med school graduates are less keen these days to become family doctors, largely for financial reasons.
- Emergency room closures that wreaked havoc in cities during the summer are still persistent, with some regions going without 24-hour ER coverage for weeks on end.
- Children’s hospitals are the latest to feel the pressure of staffing shortages as they deal with an “unprecedented surge in demand” during a nasty flu season.
What’s next: A united front of provincial and territorial governments launched a new campaign to lobby the government for increased funding for their respective healthcare systems. Unfortunately, it will take more than that to keep nurses in Canada.