Maple News reports that Canada’s health-care and social assistance sector is facing unprecedented labour shortages, with job vacancies reaching 100,300 by the end of 2020 — the highest on record. The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly amplified long-standing staffing challenges across the country’s medical and support systems.
This shortage coincides with broader demographic shifts that are expected to increase the strain on health services. As the majority of Canada’s workforce edges toward retirement, and with the national birth rate continuing to decline — particularly in provinces like British Columbia — the country faces the growing pressure of supporting an aging population without sufficient young workers to replace retirees.
Immigration has long been a vital source of labour for Canada’s essential sectors. According to Statistics Canada, immigrants represent nearly a quarter of the overall labour force and are notably overrepresented in health-care professions. For instance, in 2016, while immigrants comprised 24% of the employed population, they accounted for 28% of workers in nursing support roles.
However, internationally trained health-care workers face persistent barriers, particularly when it comes to having their credentials recognized. Many newcomers with health backgrounds are forced to retrain within Canada to gain local credentials, often switching to these careers only after struggling to find work elsewhere. Once Canadian credentials are obtained, integration into the health-care workforce becomes significantly smoother.
This misalignment between international qualifications and domestic recognition standards continues to limit the potential of skilled immigrants ready to fill urgent roles — a missed opportunity given the nation’s growing health-care demands.
Experts predict that unless Canada ramps up high-skilled immigration and accelerates credential recognition processes, the burden of elder care and medical support will increasingly fall on a diminishing working-age population.
As the demand for health-care workers reaches critical levels, targeted immigration strategies and systemic reforms in training and accreditation may hold the key to sustaining Canada’s health-care system in the decades ahead.