Quebec's efforts to hire nurses from abroad falling short
CTV
After failing to recruit hundreds of orderlies internationally, Francois Legault's government is now dangling the same solution to the nursing shortage. If the past is any indication of the future, the chances are slim that Quebec will see thousands of professional nurses coming to the rescue of the health-care system.
After failing to recruit hundreds of orderlies internationally, François Legault's government is now dangling the same solution to the nursing shortage.
If the past is any indication of the future, the chances are slim that Quebec will see thousands of professional nurses coming to the rescue of the health-care system.
Liberal health critic André Fortin is calling on the government to act quickly to analyze the failure of the foreign orderly recruitment program and to correct its shortcomings.
"We can't make the same mistakes a second time," he warned.
As of Dec. 17, there was a shortage of 3,871 nurse technicians and clinicians in the Quebec network, according to data from the Ministry of Health. On top of that, there's an additional 1,708 auxiliary nurses sought for a total of 5,500 positions to be filled.
Among the solutions proposed by Minister of Health Christian Dubé, there is talk of recruiting internationally. However, according to figures obtained by The Canadian Press through the Act respecting access to documents held by public bodies, Quebec has managed to attract between 359 and 399 nurses per year for the past five years.
During the period from Sept. 1 to Jan. 20, a total of 145 nurses were convinced by the Recrutement Santé Québec service, whose mission is to facilitate "the recruitment, reception and integration of health and social services professionals who have graduated from outside Canada and are fluent in French."
