Research tackles barriers preventing internationally educated nurses from practising in Canada
Athabasca University researcher leads Canadian Institutes of Health Research-funded study to streamline rules across provinces
Canada is grappling with a critical shortage of qualified nurses, which adds pressure to already strained health-care systems across the country. Internationally educated nurses are part of the solution but many face major roadblocks trying to qualify to work in Canada.
Athabasca University (AU) researcher Dr. Kathleen (Kate) Leslie is leading a new national study that will explore ways to make it easier for qualified internationally educated nurses to join the health-care workforce.
Nurses must be licensed by a professional regulator to practice in Canada, with different rules and processes across provinces. Leslie, an associate professor in the Faculty of Health Disciplines, said too often internationally educated nurses run into barriers that prevent them from practising in their field. The process can sometimes take up to five years and lead to people settling for lower-paying roles with limited growth opportunities.
“Canada has a responsibility to ensure that internationally educated nurses who have decided to make this country their home do not face unnecessary burdens when they come to Canada,” Leslie said.
“Canada has a responsibility to ensure that internationally educated nurses who have decided to make this country their home do not face unnecessary burdens when they come to Canada.”
– Dr. Kathleen (Kate) Leslie, associate professor, Faculty of Health Disciplines
Canadian Institutes of Health Research funding
Thanks to more than $1.1 million in funding from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), Leslie will lead a team that will evaluate current rules governing how nurses are licensed in Canada—a patchwork of regulations that vary by province. They will also identify gaps between provinces and look at jurisdictions that have made changes to reduce barriers for internationally educated nurses.
The team includes nursing regulators, government officials, researchers, policymakers, and health-care employers and workers, as well as internationally educated nurses who’ve gone through the process of qualifying for their nursing licences.
Damilola Iduye is one of those nurses and is on the research team. Originally from Nigeria where she worked as a nurse, she first started her application to become licensed in Ontario in 2011, even before she immigrated to Canada. Even though she eventually landed in Nova Scotia, she continued seeking an Ontario licence rather than start the process from scratch in a new province.
A 'frustrating' licensure process
Iduye described the experience as “extremely frustrating,” a process that included lost transcripts, lapsed clinical practice hours due to delays, sudden changes to registration, and licensure requirements that were different across provinces. There were few guidelines for internationally educated nurses.
“There was no access to timely info, no peer support,” she said. “People were suffering in silence not knowing what needed to be done.”
She became so frustrated that she opted instead to apply for her licence in Nova Scotia—an experience that also had challenges. In 2015, she finally became eligible to practice as a registered nurse in the province.
The experience was so challenging, that Iduye founded the Nova Scotia Internationally Educated Nurses Network to provide peer support to internationally educated nurses in the province. What started as a “passion project” has become the professional voice for internationally educated nurses in Nova Scotia. It is led by eight internationally educated nurses representing diverse areas of nursing practice.
“Nursing regulation is an under-researched area, especially when it comes to the licensure of internationally educated nurses. I am very, very excited that Kate is leading this work and I’m part of the team that makes it even more exciting,” said Iduye.
Many provinces have introduced changes to make it easier for internationally educated nurses to get licensed.
“We just really wanted to evaluate these new licensure pathways to generate evidence for more equitable regulatory policy in Canada,” said Leslie.
By identifying the most equitable approaches to licensure, the research team hopes to help bring consistency across Canada so there’s a fair and predictable pathway for internationally educated nurses, said Leslie.
Evidence Support and Knowledge Mobilization
Part of the CIHR grant will go toward creating an Evidence Support and Knowledge Mobilization (ESKM) hub to build health workforce research capacity and mobilize knowledge from different teams and policymakers across the country. The hub is a first of its kind for AU.
“Receiving the supplemental funding to lead the ESKM Hub is really exciting,” said Leslie. “Strengthening our health workforce through research is critically important, and we are thrilled to support the translation of this evidence into policy and practice across Canada.”
