Persistent staffing shortages in the health-care sector across Canada in the wake of the pandemic have led some organizations, including some provincial government agencies, to increasingly call upon temporary foreign workers to fill positions in clinics, hospitals and senior care facilities across the country.
While health-care still represents a small fraction of the overall temporary foreign worker program, federal data analyzed by CBC News shows the government greenlighted the hiring of 4,336 health-care workers last year — up from 447 such positions in 2018. Health-care occupations represented roughly two per cent of the total temporary foreign worker positions that were approved in 2023.
But employers have also turned to the program to fill other positions, such as nurses (612 positions approved, up from 65 in 2018) and family doctors (216 positions approved, up from 72 in 2018).
“I think this is another example of the overall health-care workforce crisis,” said Ivy Bourgeault, who leads the Canadian Health Workforce Network, a network of researchers who study issues facing health workers. She said staffing shortages driven by burnout and attrition have employers turning to increasingly novel means to bring in new workers.
The uptick in health-care hiring is reflected in the number of positions approved through labour market impact assessments (LMIAs), which employers need to prove there’s no one in Canada available to take a job before they can hire a temporary foreign worker.
There isn’t an exact one-to-one ratio between the LMIA data and the number of temporary foreign workers in the country.
For example, the Vitalité Health Network, a regional health authority in New Brunswick, was cleared to hire 190 health care workers last year, but told CBC News in an email it expects to use fewer than 10 per cent of those permits in part because it’s now leaning instead on another immigration program that more narrowly targets francophones.
But other organizations say the temporary foreign worker program has become a key part of their human resources strategy, at times as a stepping stone to bring a worker to Canada permanently.
Program fills staffing gaps, organizations say
Much of the hiring has been in Quebec, where health-care staffing shortages have been well-documented. Federal data shows just under half of the temporary foreign worker jobs approved last year were in that province, which represents just 22 per cent of the Canadian population.
The Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montreal (CHUM), one of the largest hospitals in Canada, said it’s used the program since 2007 and employs 141 nurses hired through the temporary foreign worker program.
“Due to a substantial health-care staff shortage, and while [we] prioritize hiring within the province of Quebec, this program helps fill positions that would otherwise remain vacant, despite our best recruiting efforts,” said spokesperson Jessie-Kim Malo.
But employers in other provinces are using the program too.
Alberta Health Services (AHS) — cleared to hire 79 nurses and 74 doctors through the program last year — told CBC News in an email the TFW program is one of many it relies on to recruit local and internationally trained nurses.
As for doctors, spokesperson Kerry Williamson said AHS is focused on recruiting international medical graduates right now as a way to deal with doctor shortages, and that “many” apply for work permits under the temporary foreign worker program before seeking permanent residency.
Medicentres Canada, which runs walk-in clinics across Canada, started using the program about a year ago. Samantha Wilk, the company’s senior manager of physician services, said they had hired a doctor from the U.K. who was struggling to get a work permit in a timely way and were advised by an immigration consultant that going through the temporary foreign worker program would be faster.
“We obviously still would love to give preference to permanent residents and Canadian citizens to fill the vacancies that we do have,” said Wilk, who said they’ve filled jobs in Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto and London, Ont., this way.
“However, if a physician is fully qualified and able to practise, our main goal is filling our vacancies and getting patients access to physicians.”
Last year, Canadian employers were given the green light to hire 4,336 health-care workers through the temporary foreign worker program, a major increase from just 447 such positions in 2018. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)
Some employers, like CHUM and Medicentres, primarily recruit staff from countries, such as France or the UK, whose credentials can easily transfer to Canada.
But Spectrum Health Care, a home care company in the Greater Toronto Area, hires nurses from the Philippines who work for the company as personal support workers while they strive to meet the qualifications to work as nurses in Canada.
That company said it’s so far hired 50 nurse aides, orderlies and patient services associates this way.
“While [internationally educated nurses] cannot single-handedly solve the country’s staffing challenges, they play a critical role in building nursing capacity and providing care in communities where they are very much needed,” said Sandra Ketchen, the company’s president and CEO, in an email.
Not the ‘highest return on investment’
Burnout and attrition have driven labour shortages in many parts of Canada, says health-care staffing expert Ivy Bourgeault. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
While the temporary foreign worker program is one way to increase staffing levels and lighten the burden on health-care workers, Bourgeault said it’s not necessarily the most effective.
“I wouldn’t say that it is the highest return on investment,” said Bourgeault, who is also a professor in the University of Ottawa school of sociology and anthropology.
Instead, Bourgeault thinks time and money would be better spent trying to retain workers who are already employed in the health-care system, encouraging those who’ve left to come back.
She also wondered about the fairness of hiring health-care workers away from other countries, when she said it isn’t clear that any countries have excess workers to spare.Why the health-care sector is hiring temporary foreign workers like never before
It’s ‘very difficult’ to find health care workers in Canada, says Samantha Wilk, a senior manager of physician services for Medicentres Canada.
Still, University of Waterloo economics Prof. Mikal Skuterud, often a vocal critic of the temporary foreign worker program, said he has some sympathy for employers struggling to hire nurses, for example.
“The wages are largely paid by public funds and they’re set by collective agreements through union-management negotiations,” he said. “And so it’s harder for employers to kind of increase wages [than it is in the private sector].”
CBC requested an interview with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada for this story, but the request was declined.
Via email, spokesperson Julie Lafortune told CBC that “immigration continues to play an important role in addressing labour shortages across the country, supporting social services and infrastructure by recruiting health-care and skilled trade workers.”
Under pressure to shrink the number of temporary residents in Canada, the federal government has recently moved to tighten up some streams of the temporary foreign worker program. This spring, employers in sectors that had been given special permission to hire up to 30 per cent of their staff through the low-wage temporary foreign worker program were told they need to cut back.
But two sectors have been given exemptions — health-care and construction — which a spokesperson for Employment and Social Development Canada said was because those two sectors continue to deal with some of the country’s most acute labour shortages.
For Wilk, with Medicentres Canada, the plan is to continue using the temporary foreign worker program as part of their broader hiring strategy. And while the program may have “temporary” in the title, the program is anything but — she said all the staff they’ve hired have applied for permanent residency.
“Patients love them, they’re very qualified, trained doctors.”
Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyang/Montréal, September 27, 2024 – This weekend, Montreal will host the Bandung du Nord, a space aimed at collectively reflecting on a project of collective emancipation from a decolonial perspective. This event is inspired by the 1955 Bandung Conference, where 29 newly independent countries from Asia and Africa gathered, away from imperialist states, to discuss South-South solidarity and decolonization. This event, which placed the self-determination of colonized peoples at the heart of discussions, was foundational for the non-aligned movement. The Bandung du Nord revives this historical legacy by creating a dialogue space on contemporary forms of coloniality and exploitation, while emphasizing the voices of historically marginalized individuals.
Panels Featuring Internationally Renowned Experts
For three days, recognized global panelists will present their important theoretical and practical contributions to addressing modern issues from a decolonial and anti-imperialist perspective.
Text Highlighting 3 or 4 Panelists
To think about liberation in a settler colony, Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel, an Indigenous activist from the Kanehsatà community and chosen spokesperson during the Oka crisis in 1990, will join other speakers. Since then, she has been advocating for the human, collective, and individual rights of Indigenous peoples, raising awareness about their history, culture, and identity. Ramón Grosfoguel and Sherene Razack will also be present to discuss secularism, liberalism, and Islamophobia. Grosfoguel, a professor in the Department of Ethnic Studies at UC-Berkeley, is a renowned internationalist political scientist recognized for his work on the decolonization of knowledge and power, as well as his research on international migration and global political economy. Razack, a professor at UCLA, stands out for her research on racial violence and discrimination, particularly against Muslim and Indigenous women in Canada, as well as on systemic racism in the Canadian judicial system and colonial violence worldwide.
Anticipated Intimidation Attempts from Zionist and Far-Right Groups
For several weeks, the Centre for Jewish and Israeli Affairs (CIJA) and some right-wing groups have been attempting to discredit the event by associating criticism of Israeli policies with anti-Semitism. We expect intimidation tactics to persist and for groups to try to disrupt the conference. The organizing team of the Bandung du Nord has worked closely with UQAM administration to establish security protocols, and any overflow from groups attempting to censor academic freedom will not be tolerated. We reaffirm that critical analysis of any state cannot be confused with racial hatred. Academic freedom and freedom of expression must be preserved in the face of these attacks.
Quote
“Today, we still remain within a colonial logic. Our countries of origin remain colonized, and the accumulation of wealth continues to flow in one direction, from South to North. This results in a forced displacement of populations from the South to the North, creating a large minority in these countries, a new social and demographic reality that faces particular treatment. It is through this Bandung that we aim to become or create an autonomous political force at the heart of the Empire through a project of a Decolonial International, transcending national borders and forging alliances between decolonial movements in the West.
And as Frantz Fanon said so well: ‘Every generation must, in a relative opacity, confront its mission: to fulfill it or betray it.’ Today, here at the Bandung du Nord, we have the opportunity to seize our mission and fulfill it, by following in the footsteps of our ancestors and engaging on different fronts to abolish all forms of racism, social domination, and economic exploitation, always crystallized by white domination.
Today, here, we, the subalterns of the North, the Souths of the North, speak!” – Safa Chebbi
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska would sell alcohol at Memorial Stadium in 2025 if the university’s Board of Regents gives its approval at its next meeting.
The proposal is listed on the agenda for the October meeting in Kearney next Friday and was first reported by The Omaha World-Herald.
Nebraska would become the last of the 18 Big Ten schools to sell alcohol at football games. Northwestern, Wisconsin, Michigan and Michigan State began alcohol sales at their stadiums this year.
The Nebraska proposal would allow sales at all athletic events across the three campuses that have athletic programs. A portion of the profits would be designated for alcohol abuse education and/or services.
An Associated Press survey of power-conference schools and Notre Dame found that, as of last November, 55 of 69 sold alcohol in the public areas of their stadiums on game days. That number would now be at least 57 with Northwestern and Wisconsin’s announcements this summer that they would sell in general seating areas this year.
Nebraska athletic director Troy Dannen did not immediately return a message for comment.
Former athletic director Trev Alberts had said in 2022 that that now-101-year-old Memorial Stadium did not have the proper infrastructure to accommodate sales. Alberts had said alcohol probably would not be available until a stadium renovation took place.
Plans for a major renovation have been pushed back, but Dannen told the World-Herald that upgrades required for alcohol sales would be made after this football season.
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TORONTO – Strength in energy stocks helped Canada’s main stock index climb higher in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 16.72 points at 24,050.55.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 424.66 points at 42,599.77. The S&P 500 index was up 7.89 points at 5,753.26, while the Nasdaq composite was down 43.50 points at 18,146.79.
The Canadian dollar traded for 74.12 cents US compared with 74.22 cents US on Thursday.
The November crude oil contract was up 21 cents at US$67.88 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was up 14 cents at US$2.89 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$26.80 at US$2,668.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was down a penny at US$4.63 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 27, 2024.
