Manitoba targets U.S. nurses in recruitment push

CBC News

· Posted: Mar 27, 2025 8:31 PM EDT | Last Updated: 7 minutes ago

A Manitoba recruitment run is eyeing nurses successful the United States, with bolstered incentives and outreach strategies to promote them to relocate to the province.

But the caput of the Manitoba Nurses Union says the province needs to archetypal alteration the workplace civilization successful the health-care strategy if it wants the recruitment strategy to work. 

Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said the authorities is responding to a tide of involvement from U.S. health-care workers wanting to practise elsewhere by ensuring there's a way for them to enter Manitoba's health-care system. 

"There are existent challenges for health-care workers successful the U.S.," Asagwara said, citing a lack of authorities enactment and a crumbling consciousness of information among the issues.

"We worth a divers workforce. We privation arsenic galore radical arsenic imaginable to cognize they'll beryllium harmless to practise to their afloat scope successful our province," they said.

The province's retention and recruitment office, created past year, has set up a website and has hosted webinar sessions, including 2 connected Wednesday, to connection much accusation for nurses southbound of the borderline connected what practising in Manitoba is like, the requirements to practise present and incentives disposable — including a $5,000 relocation fund.

"We're actively putting unneurotic a truly beardown run to bash outreach to the United States," Asagwara said. 

So far, 3 American nurses person been recruited to enactment successful Manitoba, and the state is besides engaging with much than a twelve doctors from the U.S. who are readying to relocate to the province, the wellness curate said.

The state needs to bash everything it tin to amended health-care, said Asagwara. That could include working with regulatory bodies similar the College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba to make a designated database of countries — similar the U.S. — whose workers would person an expedited process for transferring credentials.

"We cognize there's much enactment to do, and we're going to proceed to work," they said. 

Retention problems

Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson said the efforts are welcome, but she's concerned the state mightiness conflict to clasp nurses if it doesn't archetypal code bigger issues in the health-care system. 

Nurses inactive consciousness disrespected, unacknowledged and disposable successful the system, and look unsustainable workloads and a growing gap successful the staff-to-patient ratio, she said.

"We consciousness similar we're not adjacent portion of the health-care system. We are conscionable a cog successful the wheel," said Jackson.

"We request to guarantee that nurses consciousness valued, due to the fact that that's what retains them."

She besides said unless determination is "a immense governmental reason" for nurses to permission the U.S., it's not apt they'll relocate to Canada. She said it's much apt to spot Canadian nurses determination determination like California — a authorities that has legislated nurse-patient ratios, making for a better working environment, she said.

Jackson said portion Manitoba has acceptable up a committee to work on nurse-patient ratios, changes will lone beryllium feasible if capable nurses are hired. 

Kathleen Cook, the Progressive Conservative wellness critic, accused the NDP government of focusing on luring American nurses alternatively of fixing problems successful the system that are driving Manitoba's nurses away.

She said burnout, information concerns and workloads are pushing nurses out.

"Instead of chasing headlines with much gimmicks, the NDP should beryllium focused connected retaining the nurses we already have," Cook said successful a statement.

"No recruitment run volition lick the issues nurses are experiencing successful Manitoba close now."

'Grow your own': union 

This isn't the archetypal clip Manitoba has tried to recruit nurses from different country.

After a 2023 recruitment propulsion successful the Philippines, the erstwhile PC authorities said much than 300 health-care workers accepted offers to work successful Manitoba.

While it was "a huge recruitment" effort, "I tin honestly accidental we person recruited very, very, precise fewer Filipino nurses from that," said Jackson.

"I americium a steadfast believer of turn your own," she said. "If you amended idiosyncratic wherever they are, they'll enactment and volition proceed to enactment successful our health-care system." 

That could see launching aviator projects extracurricular of Winnipeg to get students into nursing, portion besides helping bring down expenses for students, she said.