Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) confirmed that over 25 percent of workers in Canada’s healthcare sector are immigrants.
Canada’s healthcare sector needs more immigrants to address the labor shortages, as nearly 500,000 healthcare workers over 55 will retire in the coming decade. Statistics Canada reported that internationally educated healthcare professionals have a better chance of finding relevant jobs in the healthcare sector in Canada. The report states that 58 percent of IEHPs found employment in the healthcare industry.
Immigrant healthcare workers with international qualifications have equal job prospects compared with Canadian-educated healthcare professionals. Ontario is the top destination among immigrant healthcare workers as the province has 116,310 Internationally Educated Healthcare Professionals. British Columbia and Alberta rank second and third, with 45,235 and 12,035 IEHPs, respectively.
IEHPs face the challenge of getting licenses in Canada’s regulated professions, as there are varying criteria in place by individual regulatory bodies of different provinces. Statistics Canada reported 147,100 job vacancies in the healthcare sector at the end of June 2023.
Canada needs Internationally Educated Healthcare Professionals, including physicians, psychiatric nurses, nurse aides, licensed practical nurses, and social and community service workers to meet labor shortages in the healthcare sector. Several Canadian provinces are implementing policies to address the licensing obstacles to help IEHPs find work in Canada.
