Filipino Nurses Support Group
Press Statement

Although B.C. among top destination for foreign-trained nurses, many still trapped as overqualified domestic workers

October 31, 2005

According to latest reports published by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), British Columbia (B.C.) and Ontario recruit the greatest number of foreign-trained nurses. An advocacy group for Filipino nurses in Canada however, argues that government and nursing institutions are not doing enough to employ foreign-trained nurses, particularly Filipino nurses trapped in Canada’s Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP).

CIHI’s Manager of Human Resources stated recently that the "number of foreign-trained nurses working in Canada has remained fairly stable over the past 10 years, at about 7%", highlighting the fact that "almost 40% (39.5%) of B.C.'s regulated nursing workforce did not graduate in B.C." While these numbers indicate that B.C. and Canada have made efforts to integrate foreign-trained nurses into a system which they are highly-needed, the Filipino Nurses Support Group (FNSG) believes much more can be done to ensure the full use of what foreign-trained nurses are capable of contributing to Canada's nursing workforce in a state of crisis.

"Since nurses from the Philippines do not qualify to enter under Canada’s immigration program as skilled workers, these nurses are forced to enter through the exploitative LCP as low-wage domestic and 24-hour home support workers in private homes," states Leah Diana of FNSG. “Despite the worsening nursing shortage, they are not permitted to get out of the LCP to work as nurses, even when they successfully attain their nursing license here," she continues.

The LCP is an exploitative and racist policy that oftentimes sentences women, 95.1% of whom are Filipino women, to a lifetime of live-in domestic work and low-paying service sector work. A form of modern-day slavery, the LCP steals their dignity and strips them of previous experience and education.

Records from the College of Registered Nurses in B.C. (CRNBC) show that nurses from the Philippines have consistently been the top source country for new nurse registrants in B.C., outside of Canada, from 1995 to 2004. These numbers dispel the false perception that Filipino nurses are "not at par" to Canadian-trained nurses or that their language skills are limited to "household English", which serve to feed the systemic racism these nurses suffer in Canadian society.

"There has been a shameless lack of political will among government bodies, including nursing institutions, to address the outstanding issues of Filipino nurses doing domestic work," states Sheila Farrales of FNSG. "These foreign-trained nurses are instead caught in the drive to further privatize health care here. With more cutbacks, lay-offs of health workers, and contracting out of health service delivery, patients are pushed out of hospitals and into communities quicker and sicker," explains Farrales. "The LCP provides a band-aid solution to this crisis by importing Filipino nurses as package deals to do around-the-clock housekeeping and nursing care at slave wages and working conditions," she continues.

Since 1995, FNSG has been advocating for the full accreditation and immediate reciprocity of Filipino nurses as a way to alleviate the nursing shortage. The group believes Filipino and other foreign-trained nurses should be allowed to enter Canada as immigrants so that they can contribute and integrate, in their fullest capacity, within Canada's cultural mosaic.

For more information, contact fnsg@kalayaancentre.net