Evidence of meeting #10 for Health in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was working.
A video is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Maggie Chi Liberal Don Valley North, ON
Thank you, Ms. Lake.
I have a quick question. Based on your testimony, it sounds like there are pathways, and some parts need to be streamlined. Would you agree that it's not a broken system and that it just needs to be streamlined and improved?
Executive Director, Alberta International Medical Graduate Association
I think there are lots of proven best practices and emerging practices. We see that in some provinces, internationally educated nurses are able to work in clinical settings while they're preparing for exams. That model has worked; I would love to see that model, and our members would love to have that opportunity in order to gain clinical experience while they are preparing for exams and learning about the Canadian health care system.
Liberal
Maggie Chi Liberal Don Valley North, ON
Thank you for articulating that.
My final question is for Linda Silas.
Thank you for joining us from the great province of New Brunswick. I have a couple of quick questions.
You mentioned staffing shortages. Would you say it's the number one pressure facing long-term care homes and our system across the board—
Bloc
Luc Thériault Bloc Montcalm, QC
The interpreters are telling me that my colleague is much too far from the microphone and is speaking much too softly for them to be able to interpret correctly.
It’s been mentioned to me at least three times now. I just wanted to mention the fact that they can’t do their work.
Liberal
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
Please speak into the microphone, because the interpreters cannot hear you.
Liberal
Maggie Chi Liberal Don Valley North, ON
Linda, we're seeing nurses facing that pressure. You talked about workload and retention even as we recover from the pandemic.
I would like to know what that looks like in different provinces depending on how each health care system is structured. Can I get your take on that, please?
President, Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions
Thank you, MP Chi.
The health care crisis is across the border. In the previous hour, you were hearing from an expert in long-term care. I was listening to Jodi Hall. It is a crisis in long-term care, but it is also a crisis in our hospitals and in our communities.
The keys are the workload and the workplace. We need to change the way we think of the culture of health care, because nurses, doctors and health care professionals are all leaving; they are not staying. Stats Canada reports that we have over 30,000 vacancies just in nursing, which means empty lines. That means we would need about 60,000 new nurses tomorrow to fill those positions, and I'm sure we could have statistics on doctors and other health care professionals.
When we talk about IENs, as I mentioned in my presentation, 42% of them in Canada are not working, and they have degrees in nursing. That is nonsense to us. I am not an expert in regulation, but I am an expert in workplace issues, and the workplace needs them, so we need to find ways to regulate them a lot faster and welcome them into our communities.
Liberal
Liberal
Liberal
Liberal
Brendan Hanley Liberal Yukon, YT
Ms. Silas, it's great to see you again. You were extremely helpful at this committee when we reviewed the health care workforce crisis that you replied to. Since then, there have been a number of recommendations. There was a detailed government response.
Since I have only one minute, I just want to outline this, as I did in a previous panel. You heard me mention the foreign credential recognition action fund in this budget. How will that fit with your second recommendation of a standardized registration process for IENs across Canadian jurisdictions? Do you see a window of opportunity on that recommendation?
President, Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions
We're very hopeful that everyone is talking about internationally educated health care professionals. Everyone is talking about personal care workers. We believe that the federal government, the provinces and the territories will find solutions to coordinate regulation and also the entry to practice. That is key.
We're hopeful, and we're open to working with all.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
Thank you.
We'll now go to Monsieur Thériault.
You have the floor for six minutes.
Bloc
Luc Thériault Bloc Montcalm, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Mr. Singh, I just want to tell you I am completely awed by your experience. Your determination and perseverance are certainly a testament to your excellence in practising your profession. Some say that this profession is a vocation, and you are living proof. I’m delighted to see there are people of your calibre within the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions.
That said, I will now turn to Ms. Silas.
Ms. Silas, you spoke briefly about the importance of mentorship to ensure acceptance into the environment. According to Catherine Gail Montgomery, who is the scientific director of the team known as “Migration and Ethnicity in Health and Social Services Interventions,” recognizing diplomas and credentials is certainly a challenge. She also said once that’s done, there is a particular challenge around integrating into home environments because there are barriers, possibly systemic ones.
What are your observations on that?
President, Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions
Thank you, Mr. Thériault.
You hit the nail on the head. When we talk about mentorship, we’re automatically talking about clinical mentorship. It involves helping people adapt to their environment in hospitals and care homes. However, our internationally trained staff also need cultural mentorship.
As you know, I am from a very rural area in New Brunswick, where it is tough for someone internationally trained to work in a hospital. It requires not only clinical mentorship, but cultural mentorship as well. That’s what makes people stay.
For example, fish processing plants in my region have many immigrants from Mexico. So, we built restaurants and grocery stores offering Mexican specialties, and people stayed. We have to think the same way about our communities and every area of our work.
Bloc
Luc Thériault Bloc Montcalm, QC
You’re seeing the challenge of integration both in practice and in institutions.
Am I understanding you correctly?
Bloc
Luc Thériault Bloc Montcalm, QC
I see.
Several witnesses came and told us about how difficult it is to recruit nursing staff. I’ve been hearing about the issue of recognizing qualifications for 30 years. It led to human tragedies because we weren’t integrating them fast enough. Now there’s a labour shortage, and we’re finally deciding to act. I think we really missed the boat.
As for recruitment in the field of nursing care, we hear that it’s harder to train students. In any case, that was the case in Quebec barely five years ago.
Is that still the trend?
What must be done to retain labour? Working conditions have deteriorated so badly.
President, Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions
Thank you again, Mr. Thériault.
In nursing schools, we don’t hear about problems when it comes to recruiting students. The problem is that after they get their diploma, they don’t want to work full time. They accept casual or part-time work, because staffing is problematic and the workload is too high.
Nurses are assigned too many patients. They can’t do good work, so they leave. On top of that, there’s no flexibility.
That is why we encourage governments to regulate the number of patients per nurse, in Quebec and everywhere else in Canada. Nurses working in a specialized field would then know, scientifically, how many patients they can safely care for.