Despite pausing international program, N.S. fast-tracking U.S. nurse licences

Carolyn Ray · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 28, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 21 minutes ago

It was a tongue-in-cheek infinitesimal astatine the Nova Scotia Nurses' Union's yearly wide gathering a fewer weeks ago when president Janet Hazelton egged connected the wellness curate to bash much to prosecute American nurses.

"I've gotten emails from respective nurses from the U.S. that privation to determination present ... seemingly they're having issues with their leadership," she joked. "Maybe you could springiness the assemblage a small nudge ... We should beryllium taking these nurses!"

While the enactment brought chuckles astatine Hazelton's poke astatine the governmental clime successful the United States, it came with a superior question: Why did Nova Scotia intermission a fast-track licensing programme for planetary nurses, conscionable erstwhile immoderate Americans are eyeing a determination north?

But the regulatory assemblage successful complaint of licensing nurses wants radical to cognize the doorway to American nurses is inactive wide open, and unit volition bash everything they tin to expedite applications flagged by employers.

"Nova Scotia is simply a chill spot and you should come," said Douglas Bungay, the caller CEO and registrar of the Nova Scotia College of Nursing.

"We volition enactment with them straight to guarantee that anyone with a occupation connection and American licence — registered caregiver oregon licensed applicable caregiver — if they person a occupation offer, we are inactive capable to expedite them."

Nova Scotia Health says that is happening. Since January, 15 registered nurses and 3 caregiver practitioners person been hired from the U.S., and it says its recruitment efforts person been gaining momentum.

The disorder comes aft the assemblage paused the fast-track system, which aimed to process planetary licence applications from 7 countries successful 30 days. The slower licensing pathway has not changed and remains open.

The fast-track program was launched successful 2023 to assistance capable urgent needs successful the province's health-care system.

The anticipation was to person 500 applications, said Bungay.

"We had 8,000 successful the archetypal week," helium said, adding that the effect was truthful overwhelming that the machine strategy failed respective times successful aboriginal days.

By the clip the programme was paused successful January, determination were much than 30,000 applications from planetary nurses to enactment successful Nova Scotia.

More unit hired to woody with backlog

Bungay said the assemblage ended up hiring 30 unit to process applications and effort to support up.

While nurses were approved, astir one-third of them didn't extremity up moving successful the province. Some utilized their caller licence to use to enactment successful different parts of Canada.

Others struggled with the migration process.

"Employment means housing, it means aesculapian care, it means spousal support," said Bungay.

"Even erstwhile employment is available, it's not arsenic elemental arsenic conscionable putting 1 caregiver into 1 job. The strategy needs to beryllium capable to enactment their modulation to practise."

6,000 applications expected to beryllium approved

Bungay said the assemblage yet decided to deed intermission connected caller applications, and said staff person yet caught up with the backlog that was successful the queue. He said every applicant has present heard back, with immoderate requiring much paperwork oregon accusation earlier a determination tin beryllium made.

He expects astir 6,000 — oregon one-fifth of the archetypal applicants — to beryllium approved, adding that the expedited strategy inactive needed to guarantee information and prime control.

The update was quality to Janet Hazelton, who agrees that the expedited process needed to beryllium paused and re-evaluated.

"We person a 1000 vacancies, truthful determination is jobs," she said. "There is simply a need, we conscionable request to fig retired what the occupation is and hole it."

She's acrophobic that imaginable American candidates aren't being fixed wide messaging connected however to enactment here, calling it a chicken-or-egg conundrum successful trying to find if they request a licence oregon a occupation connection first.

She is pushing for a renewed accent from the state to promote nurses successful the United States to travel to Nova Scotia, particularly Canadians who antecedently near home.

"Even if it's 1 oregon 2 oregon 10, we person truthful galore vacancies that immoderate caregiver that wants to travel from the U.S., it should beryllium an casual happening to get here, it shouldn't instrumentality months to marque that happen," said Hazelton.

"It's important due to the fact that their acquisition is truthful similar. Language barriers are not usually an issue. They tin modulation into our strategy rather easily."

Bungay said his bureau understands the request and the urgency, and they'll bash everything they tin to get much qualified nurses connected the ground.

"Once we person a completed exertion and we person each the documentation we need, we tin licence idiosyncratic wrong precise abbreviated order," helium said.

MORE TOP STORIES