Record number of graduating ICU-trained nurses destined for Winnipeg, Brandon hospitals By: Chris Kitching Posted: 4:56 PM CDT Monday, Mar. 16, 2026 Last Modified: 9:11 PM CDT Monday, Mar. 16, 2026 Updates

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A record 45 nurses will soon complete a training program and begin staffing existing intensive-care unit beds in four Manitoba hospitals, Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara announced Monday.

The province said 18 graduates will work at St. Boniface Hospital, 15 at Health Sciences Centre, and six each at Grace Hospital and Brandon Regional Health Centre when their training ends April 23.

“In just a few short weeks, they’re going to go and provide care at the bedside for some of our sickest Manitobans,” Asagwara said at a news conference at Grace Hospital.

The NDP government said the addition of 45 ICU nurses will help efforts to eventually implement minimum nurse-patient ratios in Manitoba.

Manitoba has three ICU nurse training cohorts per year, with a maximum of 55 seats per cohort.

Chantal Packulak, a co-ordinator for critical-care education, said the number of trainees fluctuates, ranging from six to 35 per cohort. Training is paid during the 15-week program.

“We’re really trying to promote the course. We’re trying to encourage staff who may not feel ready to come and talk to us about it, encouraging staff to do shadow shifts to see if a career in ICU nursing is something they would enjoy,” she said.

Packulak said officials are analyzing data to try to identify trends and continue the momentum.

Asagwara said 80 nurses applied for the most recent intake, with licensed practical nurses among those who are applying.

The province’s health-care recruitment and retention office was tasked with doing everything possible to fill ICU nurse training seats.

“In just a few short weeks, they’re going to go and provide care at the bedside for some of our sickest Manitobans.”

Asagwara said the NDP government has fully funded and fully staffed an additional 28 ICU beds since forming government in October 2023.

Critical-care units are historically one of the most difficult hospital areas to staff, officials said.

“Having more ICU nurses allows us to always have fully staffed ICU beds, and greatly reduces our need to rely on overtime and mandating,” said Jane Curtis, interim president and CEO of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.

It is also a critical part of efforts to reduce crowding in emergency rooms, and improve patient flow elsewhere in the health system, officials said.

Taking a swipe at the former Tory government, Premier Wab Kinew said ICUs lacked capacity and were under strain for years, with some of the sickest patients being sent to hospitals outside Manitoba during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We never want to get into a situation like that again,” he told reporters.

Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson said Monday’s announcement was a positive step forward.

“We just have to remember that these are not 45 newly hired nurses. They are probably 45 nurses who are already in the system who have moved into critical care, but it’s still positive having more nurses in critical care,” she said.

“We do know that that is an area that we do need bolstered, especially when we’re seeing things like an influx of patients during respiratory (virus) season.”

Jackson is keen to see the province move forward with implementing minimum nurse-patient ratios across the health system as soon as possible.

Ratios help to lower rates of mortality and re-admission, and help to recruit and retain workers, she said.

“Having more ICU nurses allows us to always have fully staffed ICU beds, and greatly reduces our need to rely on overtime and mandating.”

“One thing we definitely need in the system and we need to get rolling very quickly on are the nurse-patient ratios in all areas, not just in the ICUs,” Jackson said.

She said a subcommittee’s report to Asagawara recommended a ratio of 1:1 in ICUs, or 1:2 if the two patients are stable. An implementation committee is being formed to help determine which ratios should be rolled out first, and how.

The committee will include nurses, unions and employers.

“We want to move as quickly as possible, and this work will be done carefully and collaboratively to ensure ratios are safe, sustainable and reflect the realities of different care settings across the province,” Asagwara said in a statement after Monday’s news conference.

Doctors Manitoba said more ICU nurses is a vital part of maintaining and expanding critical-care services.

“We welcome the news of more ICU-trained nurses, vital members of the critical care team,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

“Manitoba is lucky to have an expert group of ICU physicians providing highly specialized care, and the one of the top concerns we hear from them is that we need more ICU beds to keep up with a growing population and expanding health-care services.”

“Manitoba is lucky to have an expert group of ICU physicians providing highly specialized care.”

Asagwara said the province is trying to build a nursing pipeline to staff ICUs and fill positions that nurses leave behind when they move to critical care.

Increasing staffing levels “across the board” in ICUs, including respiratory therapists, is a priority, the minister said.

Jason Linklater, president of the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals, said more than 50 respiratory therapists were needed to fill vacant positions at Winnipeg’s three acute-care sites (HSC, St. Boniface and Grace) in January.

Asagwara said the province doubled training seats for respiratory therapists.

Linklater said only 16 graduates are expected this spring, and the first-year cohort in the University of Manitoba’s three-year program is half-full.

”Government must immediately prioritize respiratory therapist retention, recruitment and training, just as they are for ICU nurses,” he said in a statement.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Chris Kitching
Reporter

Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris.

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