B.C. adds 414 American health-care workers in first 10 months of ad campaign
The province marks one-year of a $5 million advertising campaign aimed at doctors and nurses looking to leave the U.S.
By Alec Lazenby
Last updated 7 hours ago
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More than 400 health-care workers have moved north since the province launched a campaign aimed at recruiting American health-care workers last March.
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The program includes digital and print ads and cost the province $5 million, with B.C. Premier David Eby saying there were a lot of critics of the effort at the beginning.
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“We looked around at what was happening in the world and thought that there was an advantage potentially to be had by reaching out to American health-care professionals and letting them know what the opportunities were for them in British Columbia,” he said.
“Now you’ll remember, at the time, the Conservatives were very opposed to this. They thought it was a waste of money that wouldn’t be successful. They’re very critical of the program. While I’m happy to share with you that our hunch was right, we have been able to recruit a significant number of American health-care professionals.”
Among the 414 health-care workers who have moved to B.C. so far are 89 doctors, 260 nurses, 42 nurse practitioners and 23 other health professionals. The data is as of January, with February’s numbers not yet in.
The additions have been spread throughout B.C., with 105 moving to the Fraser Health region, 97 to Island Health, 83 to Interior Health, 72 to Vancouver Coastal Health, 31 to Northern Health, and four to the First Nations Health Authority.
Another 22 have joined the Provincial Health Services Authority.
Dr. Ianto West said that he began the process of moving to Canada after U.S. President Donald Trump’s November 2024 election win and is now working at B.C. Children’s Hospital in Vancouver.
He had started graduate school in 2014 and, after a couple of years, started thinking about moving across the border, signing up with the Canadian register.
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“That meant that when November 2024 came around and our family made the decision to move to Canada, the process went a little bit smoother. We were able to move pretty fast. It was still a lot of things to do, but it reduced the paperwork burden, and I was able to make things happen pretty quickly,” said West.
“I was able to get registered as a psychologist in B.C. in about six months, and I had a job offer in about a month, and about a month after that, we were moving.”
Health Minister Josie Osborne said the province hopes to get more health professionals registered in the coming months with B.C. having received 2,750 applications as of March and have registered 1,300 to practise in B.C.
