The Omicron-driven surge in COVID-19 infections is worsening the shortage of nurses at Canadian hospitals. But there are thousands of internationally trained nurses who say they can ease the strain on the health-care system if they are given the chance to work.
"We can help. Like, come on guys. We're here. And we've been trained and been working for so many years. We just hope that they could consider us," Antonette Licuanan told CTV News.
Licuanan was a nurse in the Philippines for seven years before moving to Ontario, but she can't work as a nurse until she completes a lengthy, complex and expensive certification process.
"Every country, they have different standards. But at (the same time) … I know for a fact how hard it is for all the health care teams in the whole world," she said.
There's good news for some internationally trained nurses in Ontario. The province on Tuesday announced that 1,200 of these nurses will be matched with hospitals and long-term care homes to deal with immediate staffing shortages.
But some nurses, even after acquiring the appropriate certification, still can't practice due to immigration processing delays.
Karla Ducusin is a registered nurse in Ontario and previously worked as a nurse in the Philippines for four years. But even though she has the right credentials, she's still waiting on immigration officials to process her permanent residency application, which she submitted in October 2020.
"It's very, very frustrating, honestly. I see the news, I read in articles that nurses are burned out. Nurses are tired. They're exhausted from working overtime," she told CTV News. "We are here. We can help."
Ducusin had worked hard to get her nursing credentials in Ontario, a process that depleted all of her savings. But pandemic-related delays in immigration processing have continued to leave her in limbo.
"With immigration documents, I don't have it. I'm just left out. It feels like my life is put on hold. I'm just waiting and waiting and nothing's happening. It's very frustrating," she said.
The shortage of nurses was an issue prior to the pandemic. But the rise of the Omicron variant has led to a surge of infections among nurses, who would have to isolate and be unable to work. On top of that, hospitalizations and ICU admissions are rising, putting further strain on the health-care system.
"Things have the potential … to get even worse than they are right now and we're not in a good place already," said Morgan Hoffarth, president of the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario.
The association says there are around 15,000 internationally educated nurses in the province who aren't practicing in their field, even though they could be.
"It's a big number, and it would make a huge difference to help our health care system," Hoffarth said.
"In the next four to six weeks. We need help. We need bodies. We need to fast track the registration and the work permits for internationally educated nurses."
It's a similar story on the West Coast. The B.C. Nurses' Union also wants to see the process of certification simplified for internationally educated nurses.
"There's a ton of nurses in B.C. that are internationally educated nurses and it is so expensive for them to get through the licensing hoops and hurdles," Danette Thomsen, the union's interim vice-president, told CTV News. "It's an untapped resource."
Even before obtaining all of the proper certification, Thomsen says nurses like Licuanan could be put to work right now doing non-critical tasks and take some of the load off other nurses.
"Our nurses are saying that their patient loads are two to two-and-a-half times heavier than normal. That it's impossible to give safe patient care," Thomsen said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
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A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'
Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday.
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
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Manitoba is planning to lift its ban on the home growing of recreational cannabis.
A Canadian expert warns eradicating an ever-increasing population of wild pigs in Manitoba likely won't be possible, but new money from the provincial and federal governments will help in the fight to get the invasive species under control.
A new humpback whale calf has been spotted in the Salish Sea, just south of B.C., marking the first calf of the 2024 season, the Pacific Whale Watch Association announced Wednesday.
A proposed repeal of Arizona’s near-total ban on abortions won approval from the state House Wednesday after two weeks of mounting pressure on Republicans over an issue that has bedeviled former U.S. President Donald Trump's campaign to return to the White House.
Houthi militants in Yemen have attacked what they said were two American ships and an Israeli vessel, the group's military spokesman said on Wednesday, the first such attack in more than two weeks.
Russia on Wednesday vetoed a U.S.-drafted United Nations Security Council resolution that called on countries to prevent an arms race in outer space, a move that prompted the United States to question if Moscow was hiding something.
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.
Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday.
Hamas released a video of Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin on Wednesday, the first proof that he survived being badly wounded during his capture on October 7.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he's not going to comment on the future of TikTok in the United States, but his own government will continue to look out for Canadians' security.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe on Wednesday that the Canada Revenue Agency is 'very, very good' at getting the money it's owed.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday that it had found bird flu virus particles in some samples of pasteurized milk, but said commercial milk supply remains safe.
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
Doctors have transplanted a pig kidney into a New Jersey woman who was near death, part of a dramatic pair of surgeries that also stabilized her failing heart.
U.S. President Joe Biden signed legislation Wednesday that could ban TikTok in the U.S. while his campaign has embraced the platform and tried to work with influencers.
A new paper says a giant salmon that lived five million years ago in the coastal waters of the Pacific Northwest used tusk-like spikes as defense mechanisms and for building nests to spawn.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he's not going to comment on the future of TikTok in the United States, but his own government will continue to look out for Canadians' security.
It's a midweek lunchtime on an unassuming residential street in Vauxhall, south London. There aren't many people about – the occasional dog walker, a few runners, a couple of delivery drivers. I'’s pretty much what you’d expect on a drizzly work day.
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
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British competition regulators said Wednesday they'll scrutinize recent artificial intelligence deals by Microsoft and Amazon over concerns that the moves could thwart competition in the AI industry.
A Polish pilot proposed to his flight attendant girlfriend during a flight from Warsaw to Krakow, and she said yes.
A portrait of a young woman by Gustav Klimt that was long believed to be lost was sold at an auction in Vienna on Wednesday for 30 million euros (US$32 million).
There is a swaying sea of colour in some cities across Canada, and it's a sure sign of spring: cherry blossoms are in bloom.
The CFL has suspended veteran defensive lineman Shawn Lemon indefinitely for betting on league games.
Canada's Denis Shapovalov advanced to the second round of the Madrid Open tennis tournament with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win over Argentina's Facundo Diaz Acosta on Wednesday.
Andrew Harris will finish his illustrious CFL career with his hometown team.
A made-in-China electric vehicle will hit North American dealers this summer offering power and efficiency similar to the Tesla Model Y, the world's best-selling EV, but for about US$8,000 less.
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Josef Newgarden’s win in IndyCar’s season-opening race at St. Petersburg was disqualified Wednesday because Team Penske manipulated its push-to-pass system during the race, making Pato O’Ward the winner.
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The union representing the city’s bus drivers says violence against transit workers is out of control.
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
The Ontario government says it will be raising the speed limit along certain stretches of provincial highways soon, including Highway 401 and Highway 403.
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
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If musicians are the sole focus of a commercial event, those performers should be paid for their efforts. That's according to a local musician who set up an online petition after the Town of Essex issued a call for artists to perform at their annual summer concert series for free.
The Windsor Police Collision Reconstruction Unit is looking for witnesses after a collision involving a motorcycle and a Porsche.
A 42-year-old man has been arrested after police seized $10,000 in illegal drugs.
A member of the Brothers Keepers gang in British Columbia, which police describe as an 'extremely violent organized crime group,' has been sentenced to 11 years in prison on drug-trafficking charges.
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021.
To appreciate the two posters hanging in Stephen Campanelli’s laundry room, which he’s had for more than 40 years, you need to know he’s been a Clint Eastwood fan for even longer.
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Major crime detectives in British Columbia are investigating a suspected homicide after a body was found in a remote area southeast Kelowna over the weekend.
Wildfires in Alberta and B.C. appear to be getting off to an early start this year. Both province's wildfire services are doing what they can to prepare for what's expected to be a tough summer.
An assault over property at a Lethbridge encampment ended with a man in hospital suffering from a serious head injury.
A southern Alberta woman says she began to hyperventilate when she realized she had won $2 million.
The Ontario Provincial Police, in partnership with the Treaty Three Police Service, have charged a suspect with murder following a homicide in a remote northwestern Ontario community.
A 15-year-old in Sault Ste. Marie has been charged following an incident on Bay Street on Tuesday.
Michelle Boileau is set to be the first Timmins mayor to have a baby while in office as she announced her pregnancy Wednesday morning.
Uber Technologies Inc. says it has brought its ridesharing platform to Newfoundland and Labrador.
Newfoundlander Christian Sparkes has shot several films around his home province, but with his new psychological thriller 'The King Tide' he saw an opportunity to wander into one unique town that had eluded him over the years.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans says two people were found dead and four others survived after a boat capsized off the west coast of Newfoundland.
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