Sylvia Jones sent instructions today to the College of Nurses of Ontario and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, asking them to make every effort to register these nurses and doctors “as soon as possible.” The minister also asked the nursing college to develop support for internationally trained nurses — for example to bring their skills up to Ontario standards — to allow them to practice “on time.” Jones asked for reports from the colleges in two weeks on how they will accomplish this. Hospitals are under pressure in the province, with some emergency departments forced to close for hours or days at a time due to staff shortages. Nursing groups, hospital executives, other health professionals and advocates have said burnout after being on the front lines of COVID-19 for more than two years and inadequate compensation has caused people to leave the profession in droves.
Criticism of Bill 124 remains
Catherine Hoy, president of the Ontario Nurses Association, said the system would benefit from more internationally trained nurses, but she wants to see the report from the college before assessing whether the directive will help. He also said news of the directive alone did not amount to Premier Doug Ford doing everything in his power to address the staffing crisis, as he promised at a news conference Wednesday. “This is still in line with Bill 124,” Hoy said, referring to legislation that capped wage increases for public sector workers at one percent over three years. “You’re going to bring in all these internationally trained nurses, who yes, they’re going to help because they’re nurses, but at the end of the day, who’s going to support them, orient them and guide them, because there aren’t enough nurses to do the job that do we need in ontario? So we need to get retired nurses back, and the only way you can do that is if you repeal Bill 124. Ford said Wednesday that he would not repeal the wage cap law or increase the $5,000 retention bonus for nurses. He also noted that provisions of the legislation are expiring and will not apply to the next contract negotiations for nurses.
A growing backlog
A 2020 report by Ontario’s justice commissioner showed that 14,633 internationally educated nurses were actively seeking licensure through the College of Nurses of Ontario. In the same year, just over 2,000 international applicants became fully registered members. The Registered Nurses Association says the past decade has seen a growing backlog of internationally trained applicants and estimates the queue is nearly 26,000. The nursing college recently took steps to speed up the process, including changes to language proficiency requirements and working with the province to create more supervised practice opportunities, a spokeswoman said. It has registered a record number of nurses this year, including more international nurses than in previous years, with 4,728 registrations as of early August. The college also says it is looking at ways to streamline the process. In order to practice in Ontario, internationally educated nurses must demonstrate recent experience, pass an exam and demonstrate proficiency in English or French.
