Filipino Nurses Support Group-B.C.
Press Release

Intensifying shortage of Registered Nurses is cheapening nursing profession, warns local advocacy group

May 24, 2008

Members of the Filipino Nurses Support Group (FNSG) warns that in the midst of the nursing shortage, the nursing profession is cheapening because little is being done to allow Philippine-trained nurses in BC to work as Registered Nurses.

FNSG explains that right now, hundreds of Philippine-trained nurses are in BC willing and qualified to work as Registered Nurses.  But instead of working as registered nurses, they are doing live-in 24-hour "childcare" or "elder-care" work under the Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP).  The LCP, a federal labour program managed by Citizenship and Immigration Canada and Human Resource and Skills Development Canada, forces caregivers to complete an employer-specific, live-in work contract for 24 months within a 36-month period prior to qualifying for permanent residency.

The group explains that the presence of Filipino nurses doing cheap domestic and 24-hour home support work cheapen the nursing profession.  Their presence drives down the wages of unionized registered nurses and weakens unionized registered nurses' demands for higher wages.  Also, Philippine-trained nurses are being diverted away from becoming Registered Nurses with the College of Registered Nurses of BC (CRNBC) and the BC Nurses Union.  Instead, Philippine-trained are being streamlined into licensed practical nursing (LPN), care-aid, or home support work, which Philippine-trained nurses are overqualified.

"Activities that encourage Philippine-trained nurses to become LPNs, care-aids, or home support work is just another scheme to exploit the advanced skills and education of Philippine-trained nurses, " states Leah Diana, a Filipino registered nurse and member of the FNSG. "Philippine-trained nurses demand to be recognized as Registered Nurses, nothing less.  We assert our rights for genuine equality and development."

Since 1995, FNSG has been lobbying all levels of government and nursing institutions for the full accreditation and reciprocity of Philippine-trained nurses. "FNSG remains open to dialogue with relevant government bodies, BCNU and CRNBC to discuss ways Philippine-trained nurses can help alleviate the registered nursing shortage."   FNSG’s community-based initiatives have positively supported over 200 Philippine-trained nurses to become Registered Nurses.  The group explains that two FNSG members managed to cross over from the LCP to the BC Provincial Nominee Program and are now working as registered nurses.

FNSG advocates for the early termination of the LCP contract of all Philippine-trained nurses who are registered and for the immediate granting of their permanent residency.  FNSG express concerns over the recruitment of foreign-trained nurses through the Temporary Foreign Workers Program, as this is a short-sighted solution to the nursing crisis. FNSG also calls for the scrapping of the Live-in Caregiver Program.

FNSG believes that genuinely recognizing Philippine-trained nurses will help advance the Filipino community’s full socio-economic and public participation in Canada and will help alleviate Canada’s nursing shortage and health crisis.#

For more information contact Leah or Dinah.

--