Ontario seeks 6,000 foreign-trained nurses by March 2022

Canada’s province of Ontario wants thousands of foreign-trained nurses to come work in the province’s hospitals by March 31 2022.

It is the perfect time for foreign-trained nurses to seek work opportunities in Canada. Canada is facing a significant projected shortage of nurses.

Ontario, along with the rest of Canada, had been experiencing nursing shortages since even before the pandemic. To cope with the pandemic Ontario added more than 6,700 health care professionals. These professionals work in long-term care homes and other care settings in an effort to lighten the load on hospitals.

Moreover, almost 500,000 workers in the health-care sector are over the age of 55, with most retiring in the next decade. Canada is looking to immigrants to help fill these important jobs.

Ontario says that expanding opportunities for foreign-trained nurses is one more way Ontario is increasing the health care workforce.

Ontario promised to invest $342 million over the next five years to recruitment initiatives in its 2021 Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review: Build Ontario. The multi-million dollar investment is expected to add over 13,000 workers to Ontario’s health care system. This includes over 5,000 new and up-skilled nurses as well as 8,000 personal support workers.

Ontario wants 6,000 more foreign-trained nurses working in Ontario hospitals by the end of March 2022. These include nursing students, medical students, and other students in the field of health care.

Ontario plans to send about 300 foreign-trained nurses to 50 high-need hospitals in the province. They will care for patients under supervision while they work toward getting their licence in Ontario. So far, more than 1,200 foreign-trained nurses have applied to the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) and expressed interest in these initiatives.