Exodus of nurses under 35 in the country, but Quebec is improving

Canada is struggling to retain young nurses. A new MEI report released Wednesday shows that the number of Canadian nurses under 35 who leave the profession each year is increasing compared to the number who join it.

In 2023, 40 nurses under 35 left the profession for every 100 new recruits.

In Quebec, there has been a slight improvement. In 2023, 37 nurses under 35 decided not to renew their license for every hundred nurses starting their careers. Ten years earlier, there were 40 departures for every 100 new nurses.

“If we look at the trend across Canada, in 2014, the same ratio—that is, for every 100 nurses under the age of 35 who entered the profession—there were 36 who did not re-register, while in 2023, it rose to 40. Certainly, some provinces have improved, particularly recently, but the trend is still upward across the country,” emphasizes report author and economist at the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI), Emmanuelle B. Faubert.

Her analysis is based on the most recent data on provincial licensing applications—data collected by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

The economist, however, adds a nuance to this data, since some nurses may have practiced in two provinces if they have a secondary license allowing them to work in their home province. CIHI data only includes the license to practice in the place of residence.

There can also be migration between provinces. “A nurse who goes from Quebec to Ontario, for example, is an exit for Quebec, but an entry for Ontario. So at the Canadian level, it doesn’t affect the data,” explains B. Faubert.

The British Columbia Model

We must work to improve working conditions for better nursing retention, argues Emmanuelle B. Faubert. “Once we attract staff, we must ensure that we provide them with working conditions that will keep them in the profession. That’s the most crucial thing. It’s not just about attracting people, it’s about keeping them. How can we do this? Among other things, by looking at what has been done in British Columbia, which is a very interesting model,” points out the economist.

In 2023, British Columbia had the lowest ratio of young nurses leaving the workforce compared to those entering it for the first time. This province is successful in recruiting and retaining nurses from across the country, the report states. In fact, in 2023, there were more than 9,200 graduates from another province licensed to practice in British Columbia, compared to approximately 3,100 British Columbian nurses registered to practice elsewhere in Canada.

“We contacted nursing associations in British Columbia to see what they were doing to retain nurses,” says Faubert. One aspect that emerged was that nurses have more flexible schedules thanks to job-sharing pools.

“Essentially, these are nurses who are placed in small groups, and they can swap shifts with each other without going through bureaucracy and hierarchy. These are small ways that allow nurses to have more control over their own schedules and that gives them more flexibility. These are things that help improve staff satisfaction,” explains Faubert.

She also believes that the Quebec government is on the wrong track in wanting to wean itself off private agencies from the public system. The MEI, a think tank associated with the economic right, argues that agencies give nurses “more control over their schedules” and promote “a better balance between their work and their personal lives.”

Limiting the use of employment agencies is one of the flagship measures of Minister Christian Dubé’s Health Plan. With his Bill 10, adopted in 2023, he wants to repatriate some of the staff working in agencies to the public system.

According to the most recent figures from Santé Québec, since spring 2024, the reduction in the use of independent labor has resulted in savings of $697 million. To date, 5,500 agency employees have joined the public health and social services network.

—

Health coverage by The Canadian Press is supported by a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. The Canadian Press is solely responsible for this journalistic content.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews