Quebec health network struggling to hold on to young nurses: report

For every 100 new nurses in Quebec, 43 are leaving the profession before they turn 35.

That’s according to a new report from research think tank the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI).

Quebec ranked fifth in Canada, with 43.1 young nurses leaving for every 100 entering in 2022 – 29 per cent higher than in 2013.

Across Canada, the average is 40 young nurses leaving the profession for every 100 who entered it in 2022.

“This exodus of young nurses has been worsening for the past decade, contributing to our health care woes,” said MEI economist and report co-author Emmanuelle B. Faubert.

MEI estimates Canada will have a shortage of 117,600 nurses by 2030.

Faubert says in Quebec, part of the problem is the provincial government passing a bill to limit independent nurse staffing agencies last year.

“By forcing nurses back into the government-run system and away from nursing agencies, we risk seeing a lot more of them contemplate a career change,” she said.

A recent survey by the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions suggested nurses were leaving their current job, or the profession altogether, because of mandatory overtime and a lack of shift flexibility.

“If governments want to reduce their reliance on independent staff, they need to work on giving young nurses more flexibility to make working for the healthcare system attractive to them once more,” Faubert said.