Many new Canadians have training and experience – it’s time to make better use of their talents

Healthcare, more importantly access to publicly funded and quality healthcare, is a huge priority for Canadians.

It’s often a bipartisan political topic, with almost everyone agreeing that providing healthcare through hospitals, nursing homes, physicians and other health professionals (and health hubs) is a priority.

Each province is responsible for funding and administering their own healthcare, with Ontario facing many issues and concerns that have been amplified by the pandemic.

One of the biggest issues is healthcare worker burnout, particularly amongst the nurses and support workers in hospitals and long-term care facilities, and it’s not getting better.

Full Disclosure: The author’s amazing wife is in healthcare, so he receives first-hand accounts of the lack of staff and burnout that exists throughout the industry.

On top of the burnout, or maybe because of it, a recent survey published by polling firm Nanos shows that almost 4 out of 5 hospital workers are not confident in this government’s plan to improve the sector and more than 2 in 5 are considering quitting their jobs. 

Those polled are all represented by CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions, OCHU/CUPE, including registered practical nurses, personal support workers, housekeepers, and clerical staff. OCHU/CUPE represents approximately 50,000 hospital staff across the province.

According to CUPE, in a media release, they are seeing more and more trained and experienced healthcare professionals leaving the industry due to poor working conditions and poor stewardship.

It was an eye-opening survey where 62 percent of workers polled said they were dealing with exhaustion and high stress levels; 41 percent reported dreading going to work; and 44 percent said they had trouble sleeping. Not enough compensation was a point of contention for half of those polled.

If it was only CUPE stating these concerns, it may mean taking the union with a grain of salt, however Ontario’s Auditor General report at the end of 2023 also had some damning information included.

Without going too deep into it, the findings state that a significant number of long-term care homes are failing to meet the provincial target of four hours of direct care.

As well, the report indicates that staffing shortages remain a persistent issue in both the long-term care and hospital sectors. High vacancies and turnover, particularly in nursing and personal support positions, have led to an unsustainable reliance on agency staff in both settings. Recommendations from the Auditor General include improving staffing levels, compensation, wait times in emergency rooms, and access to private care.

While the stewardship concerns can be debated and certainly middle ground can be found, the burnout is a recurring theme which will make matters worse – especially in terms of delivering good healthcare to the public – if not addressed soon.

So, what can be done in a quick and efficient manner? Spend more money and higher more trained staff … Yes. That is one solution and in time could work out.

CUPE is calling for the province to “invest $1.25 billion annually on top of inflation for the next four years to improve staffing levels and boost capacity, which will help hospitals provide services in line with rising demand because of population growth and ageing.”

While we’re on board for that, here is an additional proposal that could have an immediate impact.

Make it easier for healthcare professionals who are recent immigrants to start practicing in Canada – especially Ontario where the ability to meet demands is grossly inadequate.

We know stories of or personally kniw people who were once nurses and doctors in their birth nations but are now doing menial labour jobs.

It’s a waste of talent. It’s a waste of resources. And it’s time to fix the problem. We’re not saying increase immigration either – we’re talking about people who are already here and willing to do the job.

While it’s fair to acknowledge different practices in the medical profession worldwide, it would serve our communities well if the government streamlined their processes to make it easier for those with healthcare backgrounds to take tests, intern under licensed professionals, and even upgrade their schooling to meet our requirements.

The old way isn’t working, so let’s try something new. This isn’t a case of someone “stealing jobs from Canadians” as there aren’t enough people to meet the demand. And there aren’t enough even going into the programs, as evidenced by more government funding being allocated to increase students choosing various healthcare professions (particularly nursing and support workers).

Those students still have to complete their courses, do internships, learn the ropes, and eventually stay in the career.

In the meantime, why not start to take advantage of an under-utilized resource that is available almost immediately.

This is not a new idea, in fact intelligent people throughout Ontario and Canada have long wondered why more isn’t being done to benefit from the skills being brought here through immigration.

A report from July 28, 2022 on Immigration.ca quotes recommendations from World Education Services which helps international students and has credential vetting services, that were presented to the Canadian government. While there were a ton of recommendations (find the whole article here), this one stood out.

“Collecting the type and level of healthcare education or training, license status in other jurisdictions, and intended occupation of all IEHP (internationally educated healthcare professional) migrants to Canada, including all immigration categories: temporary workers (especially caregivers), permanent residents (including secondary applicants through Express Entry), refugees/ claimants, and international students.”

By collecting all this information, it makes it easier to fill in any gaps that may exist and get them licenced and working in their fields as fast as possible.

To be fair, the Ontario government is not opposed to hiring internationally educated healthcare workers. According to their own website’s Health Hiring Hub, “Ontario is recruiting thousands of health care workers so we can meet your health care needs. Since 2018, hospitals, long term-care homes and other health care institutions have hired: 63,000 nurses (24 percent were internationally educated, and 7,800 physicians (37 percent were internationally educated).”

That’s great and all (and it doesn’t tell us which countries they were trained in) but even more qualified and experienced healthcare professionals exist in our province who are not practicing their craft.

It’s time to get them working in their fields of expertise to fill an incredible need.

It’s up to the province to find a way to cut the bureaucracy, find efficiencies, offer appropriate compensation (that can of worms is an issue on its own) and get these healthcare professionals on the job throughout to support and relieve the many amazing people who are under immense stress and suffering from burnout.

The solution to the problem is very simple. Let’s hope the government can figure this out before it’s too late.