Ontario is more recent. I'll give you an example. They put resources in place very quickly during the pandemic to work with the regulator to expedite getting those individuals through the process. The primary issue we hear with internationally educated nurses is that there are three main issues that cause them to get into the workforce.
The first is their immigration status, which sometimes impacts their ability to access programs. It impacts career laddering opportunities, because they're not necessarily seen as permanent residents yet.
The second one is associated with the cost of going through the regulatory process. Not all individuals have the resources to pay the costs associated. In B.C., as an example, we've seen it can cost up to $15,000 for an internationally educated nurse to be registered in that province.
The third thing is long processing times. We've heard examples in provinces that it can take up to three years for an individual to make their way through that process. One of the things Ontario did was work with the college to expedite that process and provide resources for them, so they had more people to assess individuals.
It's about matching the individual with their capabilities and helping them get registered into the right classification of nursing. What often happens is they find that they're not able to be registered in one and have to start the whole process all over again to be registered in another.