A national partnership program aimed at attracting skilled foreign workers to outlying parts of Canada is helping Alberta fill persistent vacancies in its health care system.
The Provincial Nominee Program was introduced by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) in 1998. It allows provinces and territories to identify specific regional shortages within skilled occupations and then accelerate the often lengthy bureaucratic process of gaining citizenship for the potential employees.
Alberta signed a partnership deal with CIC in March 2002 and set up a pilot project to nominate up to 400 skilled foreign workers over 2 years. Just before Christmas, Alberta Health announced 75 of those nominees would be within the health care field. The remaining 325 nominees will come from the agriculture, trades and information technology sectors.
“Health care professionals or technicians are generally in short supply in Alberta, Canada and probably worldwide,” said Alberta Health spokesperson David Dear. “We think this is a good step and holds a lot of promise.”
Typically, a private clinic, laboratory or regional health authority will identify a skilled foreign worker it wishes to hire. In order to qualify, the candidate must be trained in a field with an unemployment rate of less than 3%.
If Alberta Health is satisfied the recruit fits its predetermined criteria, other provincial departments could streamline citizenship arrangements with CIC.
“This way, provinces and territories get the chance to hand-pick who meets their specific needs,” said Susan Scarlett, a CIC spokesperson. “It's also a mechanism to attract people to places other than the big cities. Modestly speaking, it's a growth area.” Since the program was launched 5 years ago, the number of foreign professional nominees gaining permanent resident status in Canada has tripled.
It's still not a huge number. Canada currently grants permanent resident status to more than 200 000 refugees and immigrants each year. Of those, only about 1500 are part of the nominee program.
Since Alberta set aside the 75 nominee positions for foreign health care workers, 10 candidates have been identified — 7 physical therapists and 1 family doctor, dental laboratory technician and orthotics laboratory manager. Three are being recruited by regional health authorities and 7 by private providers. All are currently working in Canada on temporary permits.
These candidates gain an advantage over other professionals seeking entry to Canada because they are not required to satisfy CIC's professional selection criteria, which allot points in areas such as education, work experience and language.
It is not known how many physicians will be recruited via the nominee process. Alberta had the highest overall annual average increase in physician numbers in Canada from 1999 to 2002, 4.1%. The national average was 1.5%.
The federal government has set a goal of attracting 300 000 immigrants — 1% of the population — to Canada every year, but it has yet to meet that target. — Lisa Gregoire, Edmonton