Provinces working to make it easier for internationally educated nurses to work in Canada

12 Jan 2023

各省努力让受过国际教育的护士更容易在加拿大工作面对注册护士严重短缺的情况，不列颠哥伦比亚省和安大略省正在努力为受过国际教育的护士消除障碍。 Provinces working to make it easier for internationally educated nurses to work in Canada In the face of a severe shortage of registered nurses, British Columbia and Ontario are working to remove obstacles for internationally educated nurses.

不列颠哥伦比亚省最近宣布，它将消除国际教育护士 (IEN) 在该省注册的一些障碍。为此，它将取消申请费，并为离开一段时间后重返执业的护士提供新的财政支持。 British Columbia has recently announced that it is removing some of the barriers for internationally educated nurses (IENs) to register with the province. It will do so by removing application fees and providing new financial support to nurses returning to practice after a period of absence.

该省表示，它现在将支付 IEN 的申请和评估费用，费用可能超过 3,700 加元。此外，该省将为每人提供高达 4,000 加元的费用，以支付护士在离开一段时间后重返工作岗位的评估费用和符合条件的差旅费用。 The province says it will now cover application and assessment fees for IENs, which can cost more than $3,700. Further, the province will provide up to $4,000 per person to cover assessments and eligible travel costs for nurses returning to practice after a period of absence.

“支持护士是我们让所有不列颠哥伦比亚人都能获得医疗保健的工作的关键。尽管如此，对护士的需求还是超过了供应，”州长大卫·埃比 (David Eby) 说。 “有才华横溢、技术娴熟、经验丰富的护士想在卑诗省执业并支持高质量的护理，但由于昂贵而复杂的注册程序，他们只能袖手旁观。无论护士是在省内还是省外接受培训，我们都准备好欢迎那些准备好照顾不列颠哥伦比亚省民的人。” “Supporting nurses is key to our work to making health care accessible to all British Columbians. Still, the demand for nurses is outpacing the supply,” said Premier David Eby. “There are talented and skilled nurses with the right experience who want to practice in BC and support high-quality care, but they are kept on the sidelines by an expensive and complicated registration process. Whether a nurse was trained in or out of the province, we are ready to welcome those who are ready to care for British Columbians.”

早在 2022 年 4 月，卑诗省政府就宣布为 IEN 提供 1200 万加元的助学金。自拨款宣布以来，已有 5,000 人表示对不列颠哥伦比亚省的护理工作感兴趣。其中，有 2,000 人正在积极努力完成注册和评估流程。 The BC government announced $12 million in bursaries for IENs back in April 2022. Since the funding was announced, 5,000 people have expressed an interest in nursing in British Columbia. Of these, 2,000 people are actively working toward the completion of the registration and assessment process.

总体而言，BC 护士和助产士学院在 2022 年收到的护理申请中有 90% 以上是在这些变化之后产生的。 Overall, more than 90% of nursing applications received by the BC College of Nurses and Midwives in 2022 came following the changes.

安大略省也在努力雇佣和留住更多的 IEN Ontario is also working to hire and retain more IENs

去年秋天，安大略省在为 IEN 铺平道路方面取得了类似的进展。 10 月，安大略省卫生部、安大略省护士学院和安大略省内科医师学会实施了几项改革，例如： Last fall, Ontario made similar strides toward smoothing the path for IENs. In October, the Ontario Ministry of Health, the College of Nurses of Ontario, and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario implemented several changes, such as:

• 允许受过国际教育的护士在临时班级注册，并在他们努力实现全面注册的同时更快地开始工作； Allowing internationally educated nurses to register in a temporary class and begin working sooner while they work towards full registration;
• 通过灵活地要求非执业或退休护士在申请复职之前需要在一定时间内从事护理工作，使他们更容易重返工作岗位；和 Making it easier for non-practicing or retired nurses to return to the field by introducing flexibility to the requirement that they need to have practiced nursing within a certain period of time before applying for reinstatement; and
• 为来自其他省份和地区的医生创建一个新的临时独立执业注册班，使他们更容易在安大略省工作长达 90 天。 Creating a new temporary independent practice registration class for physicians from other provinces and territories, making it easier for them to work for up to 90 days in Ontario.

这些措施是长期计划的开始。 IEN 的其他措施于今年 1 月 1 日生效，这将产生进一步的积极影响并加快注册过程，包括： These measures were the beginning of a longer-term plan. Additional measures for IENs came into effect on January 1 this year that will have a further positive impact and speed up the registration process including:

• 要求卫生监管学院遵守时限做出注册决定； Requiring health regulatory colleges to comply with time limits to make registration decisions;
• 禁止卫生监管学院在注册时要求有加拿大工作经验，但有一些例外情况，例如接受同等国际经验时；和 Prohibiting health regulatory colleges from requiring Canadian work experience for the purpose of registration, with some exceptions such as when equivalent international experience is accepted; and
• 接受根据移民和难民保护法 (IRPA) 批准的语言测试，以减少加拿大移民的重复语言能力测试。 Accepting language tests approved under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) to reduce duplicate language proficiency testing for immigrants to Canada.

去年 1 月至 10 月期间，安大略省通过扩大对监督实践经验合作计划的资助，支持了 800 多个 IEN。该省预计到今年 3 月底，这一数字将增加到 1,000 个。 Ontario supported over 800 IENs between last January and October by expanding funding to the supervised practice experience partnership program. The province expects that number to go up to 1,000 by the end of March this year.

与 BC 一样，安大略省暂时承担了安大略省护士学院的考试、申请和注册费用，最高可达 1,500 美元。最后，安大略省已投资 7.64 亿加元，为安大略护士提供高达 5,000 加元的留任奖励。 Like BC, Ontario is temporarily covering the cost of fees for examinations, applications, and registration fees for the College of Nurses of Ontario, which can go as high as $1,500. Finally, Ontario has invested $764 million to provide Ontario nurses with up to $5,000 as a retention incentive.

为什么加拿大如此努力地吸引医护人员？ Why is Canada working so hard to attract healthcare workers?

由于人口老龄化等多种因素，加拿大的医疗保健系统面临压力。这意味着需要医疗保健的人越来越多，而且医疗保健行业的许多专业人士也到了退休年龄。 Canada’s healthcare system is under pressure due to several factors such as an aging population. This means there are more people requiring healthcare and that many professionals within the healthcare sector are also reaching retirement age.

此外，加拿大护士联盟联合会的一份报告称，甚至在 COVID-19 大流行引发危机之前，护士就已经存在巨大压力和短缺。在大流行最严重的时候，许多医疗保健专业人员轮班工作的时间空前长，几乎没有休息时间，这导致许多人需要延长休假以保持心理健康，或者干脆退出医疗保健行业。 Additionally, a report by the Canadian Federation of Nurses Union says there was significant strain and a shortage of nurses even before the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. During the height of the pandemic, many healthcare professionals were working unprecedentedly long shifts with little time off and this has caused many to require extended leave for their mental health, or to quit the healthcare sector altogether.

加拿大统计局数据显示，10 月份医疗保健和社会救助领域有 151,200 个职位空缺，为所有行业中的最高水平，与 7 月份创下的 152,800 个历史高位相比变化不大。 12 月的最新数据显示，医疗保健和社会援助的就业率持续下降，其中安大略省失业人数最多。 According to data from Statistics Canada, there were 151,200 vacant positions in health care and social assistance in October, the highest level across all sectors and little changed from the record high of 152,800 in July. The most recent data from December shows that the rate of employment in healthcare and social assistance is continuing to decrease, with the biggest number of job losses occurring in Ontario.