Migrant Nurses and Federal Caregiver Programs in Canada: Migration and Health Human Resources Paradox

Can J Nurs Res. 2016 Jun;48(2):35-40. doi: 10.1177/0844562116663951. Epub 2016 Oct 21.

Abstract

Despite the links between health human resources policy, immigration policy, and education policy, silos persist in the policy-making process that complicate the professional integration of internationally educated nurses in Canada. Drawing on the literature on nurse migration to Canada through the Live-in Caregiver Program, this paper sheds light on the contradictions between immigration and health human resources policy and their effect on the integration of internationally educated nurses in Canada. The analysis reveals a series of paradoxes within and across immigration and health human resources policy that affect the process of professional integration of this group of health professionals into the nursing workforce in Canada. I will further link the discussion to the recently implemented Caregiver Program, which provides a unique pathway for healthcare workers, including nurses, to migrate to Canada. Given recent introduction of the Canadian Caregiver Program, major policy implications include the need to bridge the gap between health human resources policy and immigration policy to ensure the maximum integration of migrant nurses in Canada.

Keywords: health human resources; home caregivers; immigration policy; internationally educated nurses; migrant caregivers; nurse migration.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Canada
  • Caregivers*
  • Emigration and Immigration
  • Health Personnel
  • Humans
  • Nurses*
  • Transients and Migrants*