B.C. aims to poach U.S. doctors and nurses by highlighting 'uncertainty and chaos' south of the border

Andrew Kurjata · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 11, 2025 6:30 PM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

British Columbia has turned its oculus toward luring doctors and nurses from the United States to determination northbound successful what Health Minister Josie Osborne is calling an "unprecedented" recruitment opportunity.

Osborne says the state is changing its licensing rules truthful U.S.-trained doctors tin statesman practising successful B.C. close away, without immoderate request for further assessment, exams oregon training.

She said determination volition beryllium a akin scale-back of the barriers facing U.S.-trained nurses and that a selling run volition beryllium unveiled successful Washington, Oregon and California wrong the adjacent fewer months.

"With the uncertainty and chaos happening southbound of our border, we person an unprecedented accidental to pull skilled health-care workers funny successful moving to Canada," Osborne said successful a statement.

She was much blunt successful comments to reporters connected Tuesday.

"Whether it's due to the fact that their national authorities is withdrawing from the World Health Organization, cutting nationalist services oregon attacking reproductive rights, wellness professionals successful the U.S. person a bully crushed to beryllium alarmed," she told a quality conference.

"This provides an accidental for B.C. to nonstop a wide connection to doctors and nurses who are moving successful the U.S. Now is the clip to travel to British Columbia. We volition invited you to our beauteous state wherever together, we tin fortify nationalist wellness attraction … and physique steadfast communities." 

She said the state would besides beforehand opportunities successful agrarian and distant communities facing shortages of health-care workers.

Osborne rejected interest that the run whitethorn hazard further aggravating U.S. officials during an escalating commercialized warfare betwixt Canada and the United States.

"It's a large clip for radical to see moving to a spot wherever they consciousness supported, wherever they consciousness welcomed, and wherever they cognize that they're going to person the benignant of colleagues beside them to enactment them successful this work," she said.

Province celebrates occurrence of caller outgo model

The state says the recruitment run volition physique connected the occurrence of caller changes made to its outgo exemplary for household doctors, archetypal enactment into spot successful February 2023. Since then, Osborne says, 1,0001 caller household doctors person started practising successful B.C., with a "record number" of residents — 250,000 — attached to a superior attraction supplier successful 2024. 

WATCH | How provinces and territories are tackling the household doc shortage: 

Unlike the accepted fee-for-service system, the caller exemplary blends a salary-like outgo operation with compensation based connected clip spent with patients and the complexity of cases, according to the B.C. wellness ministry.

On average, the state says the exemplary would boost a household physician's wage to $385,000 a year, up from astir $250,000.

In its ain statement, Doctors of B.C. said the caller outgo exemplary is "already showing results," with president Charlene Lui calling it a "vital measurement successful attracting doctors to B.C. and keeping them successful household medicine which helps to connect much patients." 

A connection from the Ministry of Health said the changes related to fast-tracking credentials for doctors are expected successful the adjacent fewer months. They travel akin changes precocious made successful Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

Osborne said American nurses volition soon beryllium capable to use for licensure straight with the B.C. College of Nurses, which would past reappraisal their education, registration and regulatory past successful the U.S. nationalist nurse-licensure and disciplinary database.

Challenges ahead

About 400,000 radical are inactive waiting to beryllium matched with a household doctor, Osborne said, underscoring the request for much assistance adjacent with the caller success.

B.C. Nurses' Union President Adriane Gear said determination are astir 6,000 nursing vacancies crossed B.C. and highlighted the request to amended moving conditions for those already doing the job.

"[We] know that we tin enlistee people, but the question is, tin we clasp them?" she said successful an interrogation past month.

Likewise, Dr. Rita McCracken, a household doc and an adjunct prof astatine UBC, said the state needs to proceed to look for ways to grow connected caller improvements to outgo models.

As a adjacent step, she said, the state should look not conscionable to recruiting much doctors but besides mounting up team-based clinics crossed the province, which would spot a assortment of aesculapian professionals moving retired of the aforesaid space.

"I deliberation we request to beryllium acceptable to effort caller things. measurement them, support the ones that are moving and driblet the ones that are not," she said.