B.C. hires more than 400 U.S. health-care workers in 1-year recruitment blitz

Five months ago, Dr. Anne Herdman Royal began a new job in Canada. Driven out of the United States by a shifting political landscape and a mass shooting at the hospital where she worked in Tulsa, Okla., it had become a country she no longer wanted to call home. 

"I was horrified," she said, recalling the day four people were killed, including two fellow doctors. "I came home from the lockdown and told my husband, 'We have to get out of here.'" 

The next day, Herdman Royal applied to work in B.C. Last fall, she moved her family to Nanaimo to start a new life. She’s one of hundreds of American health professionals that have made a similar move in recent months. 

Government data provided to CBC News reveals B.C. has hired 414 health-care workers since it launched a recruitment campaign in the U.S. exactly one year ago. 

The numbers from B.C.’s Ministry of Health show 89 doctors, 42 nurse practitioners, 260 nurses and 23 allied health professionals from the U.S. accepted jobs in the province between March 2025 and January 2026.

"This makes a real impact," said Health Minister Josie Osborne in an interview. "Even if half [of the 89 physicians] are family doctors, and they attach a full panel of patients, that’s more than 50,000 British Columbians who will have access to primary care. And that’s just huge." 

The province received nearly 2,800 applications during the first 10 months of the campaign. Many of them are still being processed, and the ministry says the goal is to find a place for every qualified health professional wanting to work in B.C.

"People are accepting job offers in all corners of British Columbia, in communities large and small," Osborne said.

"It’s certainly spread out with respect to size of community, and roughly matching the population distribution across B.C."

The province initially targeted health-care workers in Washington state, Oregon and California with video ads. Staff also set up a truck outside Seattle hospitals last spring, handing out free coffee and tea to doctors and nurses. 

Grassroots social media campaigns amplified the call inviting doctors and nurses across the border. Now, the health minister is hinting at an expanded push across other parts of the U.S.

"The campaign has absolutely exceeded expectations," said Osborne. "We are looking specifically at where people are coming from and what opportunities there might be for even more targeted marketing campaigns." 

Herdman Royal says word is spreading quickly. Since moving to Vancouver Island, she’s been contacted on a weekly basis from other doctors and nurses in the U.S. looking to do the same. 

Many of them are frustrated with the direction of the medical system under the Trump administration, she added.