Nurse-recruitment trip to Philippines a success, Manitoba’s health minister says

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This article was published 01/03/2023 (919 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An international nursing recruitment mission has been declared a success for Manitoba, even as politicians face questions about the ethics of plucking highly trained health professionals from other countries amid global demand.

Provincial recruiters’ trip to the Philippines late last month resulted in nearly 350 letters of intent issued to applicants who want to work in Manitoba, Health Minister Audrey Gordon announced Wednesday. The applicants include nearly 190 registered nurses, 110 health-care aides and 50 licensed practical nurse equivalents. The recruitment team interviewed nearly 400 nurses, and the applicants were pre-screened for qualifications including a bachelor of nursing degree, minimum of two years work experience in acute care or elder care, and preference was given to those who already completed English-language requirements.

“This significantly exceeded our goal and expectations, and I look forward to welcoming those health-care professionals into the health system here in Manitoba,” Gordon said.

The health minister made the announcement at the Legislative Building along with Labour and Immigration Minister Jon Reyes and Ken Borce, chief of clinical operations at CancerCare Manitoba. Both men are of Filipino descent and travelled to Manila on the five-day recruiting trip.

“The Philippines mission was a success,” Reyes said, noting the large Filipino community in Manitoba.

Manitoba has a “give-and-take relationship” with the Philippines, Gordon said. Government officials noted an immigration agreement signed as a memorandum of understanding between the two governments in September 2010.

“We are in talks at the moment with the Philippine government as well as the Canadian government on how we can give back to the Philippines,” Gordon said, adding it’s “just one of 30” recruitment efforts by the province under their health human resources plan.

In response to questions about the ethics of scooping up trained nurses from the Philippines when their own country also needs them, Gordon said Manitoba’s efforts respect labour laws. She didn’t directly address questions about the ethics of the recruitment effort, instead describing her own success story as an immigrant.

“We want to continue to be a welcoming place, not just for the nursing profession but for other sectors,” she said.

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The Philippines recruitment plan is almost identical to one launched in 1999, and presents “a huge ethical problem,” Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont said.

Lamont said the plan “verges on a swindle” because Manitoba doesn’t have capacity to train 2,000 international nurses while ignoring current “chaos” in our hospitals.

NDP Leader Wab Kinew said he welcomes more international nurses, but is aware of international and retired nurses already in Manitoba who haven’t been able to get registered here.

“Let’s also get those folks who are already in Manitoba with the necessary skills and experience, let’s get those good people to work as quickly as we can,” he said.

katie.may@winnipegfreepress.com

Katie May
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Katie May is a multimedia producer for the Free Press.

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