Quebec is facing a shortage of health workers. Thus, steps are being taken to address this issue through the attempt of the Ministry of Health and Social Services to recruit more than 4,000 health workers – mostly nurses — abroad, especially in North Africa for the period 2021-2022.
According to Radio-Canada, more than 4,000 jobs in the Health sector are to be filled in Quebec over the 2021-2022 periods, compared to 330 in 2019-2020 and 1,700 in 2020-2021. In short, Labour demand is exploding for foreign workers.
“For 2021-2022, Recrutement Santé Québec (RSQ) received more than 4,000 mandates from 28 health and social services institutions, mainly for the job title of nurses (3,500), social workers, speech-language pathologists, and medical physicists,” Marjorie Larouche, Spokesperson for the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (MSSS), explained in a statement.
In detail, the CIUSSS du Nord-de-l’Île-de-Montréal needs 800 health workers, 90 for the Outaouais, and 28 for the West of Montreal.
Recruitment missions will take place in different countries and regions, including France, Belgium, the Maghreb, Brazil, and Lebanon. “It is very important to clarify that this is the desire of the institutions. Yet, the assessment of needs and feasibility is still ongoing as it must take into account […] the feasibility of administrative procedures for immigration and recognition of graduation”, Marjorie Larouche, spokesperson for the ministry, reported.
“The evaluation shall also have to take into account the capacity of institutions and regions to accommodate these international workers since their integration requires essential conditions to promote retention,” she added.
By Nouhaila El Bouhli