Human Resources committee  First, we need to turn the dial on their working conditions and the stories that are coming out. That's the number one reason they're not staying. We've seen federal government programs and provincial government programs to educate more personal care workers, and the last statistics I heard were that only 30% of them stayed after they entered.

Human Resources committee  Thank you. When you're in a crisis, paid education programs and paid preceptor programs are very important. Those programs that exist are in pockets here and there. They are pockets that exist if an employer has applied for it or a sector [Technical difficulty—Editor] has applied for it.

Human Resources committee  Thank you, Ms. Gladu. I hope your daughter is doing well in nursing. Right now, it's the understaffing. Among our members, 83% are telling us they are working understaffed every day. That means every day they go into work unable to provide great care—they're not able to do their job properly.

Human Resources committee  I'll start with your last question, on whether we're graduating enough nurses. We honestly don't know. That's why we're asking the federal government to do something similar to what they did with the building trades. Do a BuildForce. Do an agency to see how many RNs we need. How many personal care workers do we need?

Human Resources committee  For us right now, it's the crisis in our long-term care and home care sectors. There's a lack of transparency of where public dollars are going to in these private agencies. Ms. Stewart will be able to talk about the research they've done in the private sector and in home care and long-term care, but for our nurses, it's the agencies.

Human Resources committee  One in two nurses are saying they're considering leaving. When I say nurses, that's all categories of nurses. That's over 50% in the next year. That's why we have such a small window to convince them to stay within the health care field. We see 19% of nurses saying they've had enough and they're completely leaving.

Human Resources committee  I'll start. Mr. Liepert, I have to say that you must be a happy man that you weren't Minister of Health during the pandemic. I will start with your comments around the study perhaps being skewed because we're still in a pandemic. That is a reality. If the committee reads any of the submissions of CNFU from prior to the pandemic, it will see that prior to the pandemic we had a health care human resource shortage.

Human Resources committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee members. Thank you for the invitation to appear before this committee on behalf of Canada's nurses. As was mentioned, my name is Linda Silas. I'm president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions, and I'm a registered nurse by profession.

Health committee  With all due respect, we have to get the police to enforce it. Dr. Smart and I were there when Minister Lametti introduced it and we were very proud. It was a big success, but look at what has happened in Ottawa and other regions. The police haven't even read the act yet, so we need to enforce it.

Health committee  I totally agree with the previous two speakers, but also Dr. Soulez, who talked about integration. For the last two years, I haven't seen my primary health care provider. Everything's been virtual, either on the phone or on Zoom, so we need to expand that and we need to make it safe.

Health committee  I mentioned earlier the 2004 health accord. All the premiers, the prime minister and health ministers got together and signed an agreement for 10 years. I've worked with many premiers over the years—almost all of them—and if you show them the money, they will make changes. That's what we're seeing for child care.

Health committee  I totally agree, Mr. Davies. We need support from the federal government, and we need support from committees like yours not to throw in the towel on our universal public health care system. There are close to a million health care workers who have worked their hardest and their best over the last two years, and the worst thing they could hear right now is, “We're throwing in the towel, and we're going to privatize the whole thing to make a few very rich.”

Health committee  Yes, it is true. Some provinces are sending accreditation teams outside and abroad for nursing programs, mostly in the Philippines. That exists. Some provinces believe that's the way they're going to fix the shortage. I can tell you now that it will not. We need to work on a better and broader pan-Canadian health human resource strategy to do it.

Health committee  On the question of internationally educated health care professionals, yes, it's a college issue and a provincial and territorial issue. You might remember about seven to eight years ago Canada went to an American-based NCLEX exam to pass for RNs. We approached the premiers of each province and territory saying that they had made a mistake.

Health committee  I agree with Ms. Watson. We have a system in Canada that is over-regulated by provinces and by territories. Dr. Smart talked about it. It is very difficult for all provinces and territories to go and recruit outside our country, because there's literally no support. I'll reinforce, like Dr.