Looking to develop ‘fulsome U.S. recruitment campaign in coming weeks’
Canada is in a favourable position to recruit health professionals who have been affected by mass layoffs in the United States, according to an expert.
"We have excellent researchers and excellent clinicians that already work here," says Stephanie Michaud, CEO of BioCanRx, a research network that focuses on developing immune therapies to fight cancer, in a CBC report.
And Canadian provinces are moving quickly to attract American scientists and healthcare professionals recently laid off amid sweeping cuts at major U.S. health agencies.
Canadian provinces recruiting US healthcare professionals
Manitoba has launched targeted recruitment efforts aimed at bringing displaced researchers to Canada, following the U.S. federal government’s decision to cut thousands of jobs at several American institutions, according to the report.
The provincial government is "rolling out the welcome mat" for U.S.-trained doctors, nurses, and researchers affected by the cuts, says provincial Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara, according to the report.
This comes as the U.S.’s Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is aiming to cut 20,000 jobs at agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Many of those affected are scientists and public health experts who oversaw cancer research, vaccine approvals, infectious disease prevention, and public health policy. According to CBC, more than 10,000 layoffs have already occurred.
Manitoba is currently in discussions with over a dozen U.S.-based physicians interested in relocating, Asagwara says to CBC.
They are also in the process of developing a "fulsome U.S. recruitment campaign in the coming weeks."
Earlier, British Columbia intensified its efforts to recruit U.S. healthcare professionals as it faces a growing shortage of doctors and nurses, with hundreds of thousands of residents lacking a family physician and rural emergency rooms experiencing periodic closures.
The University Health Network in Toronto is also set to announce its strategy to attract top scientists, according to CBC.
Recently, Canadian healthcare recruitment agencies reported a notable rise in interest from U.S. physicians, particularly women, as political uncertainty and restrictive healthcare policies push more American doctors to consider practising in Canada.
Expert calls for more research funding
Amid the attraction of scientists and healthcare professionals from the U.S., Michaud is calling for more funding into research.
"I think we have all of the right ingredients, we just need to bring all of the pieces together," says Michaud.
Canada lags behind the U.S., when it comes to funding for scientific research, CBC reports. Citing data from the Canadian Association for Neuroscience, the report notes that Canadian Institutes of Health Research funded $1.44 billion worth of research from 2020 to 2021, a miniscule number compared to the $55.7 billion funding from NIH.
"What it takes in terms of investments to get a discovery that's been found, published in a Canadian lab and take it towards a clinical trial. This is where Canada [has] a harder time," says Michaud.
Job seekers from outside Canada have previously shown far greater interest in coming to work in the country, according to a previous Indeed report.
And in deciding where to go, immigrants from India appear to be preferring Canada over the U.S., according to the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP).
