The B.C. government says it is making it easier for internationally educated nurses to practice in the province.
Health Minister Adrian Dix says while nurses are in high demand, these internationally trained nurses face significant regulatory barriers that make it difficult for them to work in the province.
“The process for internationally educated nurses is complex, it is costly, and it is lengthy,” Dix said. “That, in a time when we need nurses, and we want people to both come to Canada and to use their skills in Canada is no longer, I think, acceptable.”
As it stands, the registration and licensing of internationally educated nurses can take as much as two years on average. Between 2017 and 2020, the number of registered nurses in B.C. increased by only six per cent while the population grew by about 200,000 people.
To help ease the situation, Dix says B.C. is looking to other places to recruit nurses from, starting with financial support to help internationally trained nurses get registered and licensed faster as their credentials are assessed and their English language skills are tested.
The changes announced Tuesday include $12.2 million in funding for streamlined regulatory assessments, bursaries, and enhanced recruitment supports.
About $9-million of that will be in the form of bursaries to help support 1,500 internationally educated nurses. Each of these nurses supported will get between $1,500 and $16,000 to pay for everything from application fees to English language testing and education upgrading, depending on assessment or upgrading they require.
As part of the changes, Dix also says internationally educated nurses will undergo a single competency assessment.
“That means an internationally educated nurse seeking designation as a registered nurse will also be assessed for designation as an Licensed Practical Nurse and as healthcare assistants,” he said.
“They will only have to pay one assessment fee. On top of saving time and money, triple track will provide an opportunity for internationally educated nurses who are ready to work in B.C. faster.”
Dix says B.C. will also launch a marketing campaign across Canada and in other countries in May in order to recruit nurses to a province where the population is growing and aging faster than in other Canadian jurisdictions.
He says a provincial recruitment agency called Health Match BC will manage the bursaries and help hire nurse navigators to streamline a process that has been too complex.
“For many British Columbians they won’t see this difference, they won’t understand the challenges that are facing now,” Dix said.
“They’ll only see this difference with better care at the bedside, in the community, in primary care, in complex care and in all the places where we need nurses.”
– With files from The Canadian Press
