National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada
Media release

Will Federal Government's $75 million initiative to bring in more foreign-trained professionals into the health system benefit Filipino nurses already in Canada?

April 26, 2005

VANCOUVER, B.C. -- While it is promising to hear Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh's announcement yesterday of the $75 million to speed up the process of accreditation and integration of 1000 foreign-trained doctors, 800 nurses and 500 other health professionals, a national advocacy body questions if these public funds will benefit the thousands of foreign-trained immigrant and migrant nurses already in Canada. The National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada (NAPWC) point to the Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP), managed by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) and Human Resource and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC), as the primary structural barrier facing Philippine-trained and other foreign-trained nurses from practicing their profession.

"The LCP traps hundreds of Filipino nurses in B.C., thousands across Canada, into modern-day slavery," exclaims Cecilia Diocson, national chairperson of the NAPWC.

"The foreign-trained nurses under the LCP must be the top priority targets for the federal and provincial governments' initiatives. They must immediately get this marginalized group of nurses out of the exploitative LCP, immediately grant permanent residence, and immediately facilitate their integration into the nursing profession."

"Filipino nurses must benefit from this initiative to alleviate their occupational segregation, promote upward mobility and decrease their economic burdens," added Diocson.

The Filipino Nurses Support Group of B.C. (FNSG), member organization of the NAPWC, has contact with over 600 Filipino nurses in B.C., the majority of whom have come under the LCP. FNSG urges that the B.C. government use the additional federal transfers towards the improvement of the B.C. Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), the federal-provincial program of fast-tracking the immigration process of foreign-trained nurses in BC.

"The B.C. government must assist the Philippine-trained nurses working under the LCP to be shifted into the B.C. PNP right away," states Leah Diana, registered nurse and member of FNSG. "This shift is both a short and long term strategy and cost-effective strategy to help alleviate the dire nursing shortage in the province."

Almost 100,000 Filipinos have come to Canada as domestic workers since the 1980s. Ninety-three percent of those who entered under the LCP between 1998 and 2003 were Filipino, the majority being women.

For more information, contact Cecilia Diocson at: 604-215-1103 or e-mail: pwc@kalayaancentre.net