Manitoba targets U.S. nurses in recruitment push

A Manitoba recruitment campaign is eyeing nurses in the United States, with bolstered incentives and outreach strategies to encourage them to relocate to the province.

But the head of the Manitoba Nurses Union says the province needs to first change the workplace culture in the health-care system if it wants the recruitment strategy to work. 

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

"There are real challenges for health-care workers in the U.S.," Asagwara said, citing a lack of government support and a crumbling sense of safety among the issues.

"We value a diverse workforce. We want as many people as possible to know they'll be safe to practise to their full scope in our province," they said.

The province's retention and recruitment office, created last year, has set up a website and has hosted webinar sessions, including two on Wednesday, to offer more information for nurses south of the border on what practising in Manitoba is like, the requirements to practise here and incentives available — including a $5,000 relocation fund.

"We're actively putting together a really strong campaign to do outreach to the United States," Asagwara said. 

So far, three American nurses have been recruited to work in Manitoba, and the province is also engaging with more than a dozen doctors from the U.S. who are planning to relocate to the province, the health minister said.

The province needs to do everything it can to improve health-care, said Asagwara.

That includes recently working with the College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba to create a designated list of countries — including the U.S. — whose workers have an expedited process for transferring credentials, they said.

"We know there's more work to do, and we're going to continue to work," said Asagwara.

Retention problems

Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson said the efforts are welcome, but she's concerned the province might struggle to retain nurses if it doesn't first address bigger issues in the health-care system. 

Nurses still feel disrespected, unacknowledged and disposable in the system, and face unsustainable workloads and a growing gap in the staff-to-patient ratio, she said.

"We feel like we're not even part of the health-care system. We are just a cog in the wheel," said Jackson.

"We need to ensure that nurses feel valued, because that's what retains them."

She also said unless there is "a huge political reason" for nurses to leave the U.S., it's not likely they'll relocate to Canada. She said it's more likely to see Canadian nurses move somewhere like California — a state that has legislated nurse-patient ratios, making for a better working environment, she said.

Jackson said while Manitoba has set up a committee to work on nurse-patient ratios, changes will only be feasible if enough nurses are hired. 

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

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

"Instead of chasing headlines with more gimmicks, the NDP should be focused on retaining the nurses we already have," Cook said in a statement.

"No recruitment campaign will solve the issues nurses are experiencing in Manitoba right now."

'Grow your own': union 

This isn't the first time Manitoba has tried to recruit nurses from another country.

After a 2023 recruitment push in the Philippines, the former PC government said more than 300 health-care workers accepted offers to work in Manitoba.

While it was "a huge recruitment" effort, "I can honestly say we have recruited very, very, very few Filipino nurses from that," said Jackson.

"I am a firm believer of grow your own," she said. "If you educate someone where they are, they'll stay and will continue to work in our health-care system." 

That could include launching pilot projects outside of Winnipeg to get students into nursing, while also helping bring down expenses for students, she said.

Manitoba government working on recruiting nurses from the U.S.

5 days ago

Duration 1:43

The Manitoba government is trying to recruit U.S. nurses. Shared Health recently outlined licensing and immigration options for American nurses, and a $5,000 dollar incentive, in the hopes of convincing them to come to Canada.