Carole St-Aubin
Pontiac Feb.23, 2022
Quebec Labour and Immigration Minister, Jean Boulet, made an announcement on Wednesday that the Quebec government is investing $65 million over a two-year period to recruit international candidates in an effort to alleviate the nursing shortages across the province.
The investment is being made in order to attract, recruit, train and integrate 1,000 nurses to the areas where they are . . .
most needed: in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Côte-Nord, Bas-Saint-Laurent, Gaspésie, Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, Baie-James and the Outaouais regions .
To hasten the process, Boulet said they would put the emphasis on french-speaking candidates. These successful candidates must be compatible and have acquired training and clinical experience internationally.
“While 1,000 nurses might seem like a modest amount in a network of 70,000 nurses,” said Minister of Health and Social Services Christian Dubé, “in most cases adding two or three nurses to the area in dire need can make a big difference,” he added.
These candidates would have to go through nine to 12 months of training in order for them to be recognized by the Quebec order of nurses. They will be allowed to work up to 20 hours per week as nursing assistants while in training.
The ministry is also prepared to help them find housing, acquire valid Quebec drivers’ licenses and will assist them in registering their children in schools as well as assist in the immigration process.
The cost of training, obtaining their equivalency and a weekly $500 allowance will also be offered by the government.
They have already successfully recruited 344 candidates and the first group of nurses are due to arrive in the fall of 2022.
Targeted francophone countries for the recruitment in the first phase of this initiative include Algeria, Cameroon, Morocco, Tunisia and the Mauritius Islands.
They will also be searching in the Ivory Coast of Africa, Libya, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Sénégal in a subsequent phase, according to Boulet.
