By The Canadian Press

B.C. takes advantage of U.S. ‘chaos,’ trade war to attract more doctors and nurses

Mar 11, 2025 | 1:28 PM

The “chaos” in the United States provides an opportunity for British Columbia to recruit more American doctors and nurses, the province’s health minister said as she announced changes aimed at fast-tracking the recognition of their credentials.

Josie Osborne said “now is the time” for U.S. health workers to make the move.

“Whether it’s because their federal government is withdrawing from the World Health Organization, cutting public services or attacking reproductive rights, health professionals in the U.S. have a good reason to be alarmed,” she said Tuesday.

“We will welcome you to our beautiful province, where together we can strengthen public health care … and build healthy communities,” she told a news conference.

Osborne said the province is working with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC on a direct process to enable U.S.-trained doctors to become fully licensed in B.C. without the need for further assessment, examination or training.

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It is similarly working with the BC College of Nurses and Midwives to make it faster and easier for American registered nurses to work in B.C., the minister said.

Osborne said B.C.’s efforts to recruit American health workers will include a targeted campaign in Washington, Oregon and California this spring.

“This campaign will also highlight the job opportunities in areas where health-care workers are needed most in B.C., like cancer care and emergency departments.”

She said the province would also promote opportunities in rural and remote communities facing shortages of health-care workers.

Osborne rejected concern that the campaign may risk further aggravating U.S. officials during an escalating trade war between Canada and the United States.

“It’s a great time for people to consider moving to a place where they feel supported, where they feel welcomed, and where they know that they’re going to have the kind of colleagues beside them to support them in this work,” she said.

A statement from the Ministry of Health said the changes related to fast-tracking credentials for doctors are expected in the next few months. They follow similar changes recently made in Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

Osborne said American nurses will soon be able to apply for licensure directly with the B.C. nurses’ college, which would then review their education, registration and regulatory history in the U.S. national nurse-licensure and disciplinary database.

“This new, streamlined process will help expedite the timeline from application to licensure from months to just weeks,” the minister said.

“We’ll be doing this in collaboration with health authorities, colleges, foundations, unions, municipalities and other partners, because we know that now more than ever, we need to take a team B.C. approach,” Osborne added.

There are 1,001 new family doctors in B.C. since the launch of the current physician payment model in 2023, she said. The number of nurse practitioners has almost tripled since 2018, including 128 new nurse practitioners registered in 2024.

About 675,000 people have been matched with a family doctor or nurse practitioner since the launch of the province’s primary care strategy in 2018, including a record number of 250,000 people attached to a primary care provider last year.

About 400,000 B.C. residents are still waiting to be matched with a family doctor through the province’s Health Connect Registry, Osborne said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 11, 2025.

Brenna Owen, The Canadian Press