B.C. targets U.S. doctors and nurses with recruitment ads near American hospitals

The B.C. government has launched a $5-million ad campaign aimed at recruiting American doctors and nurses.

British Columbia has launched a six-week, $5-million campaign of targeted advertisements to recruit doctors and nurses in the United States, citing “chaos” under the Trump administration to lure them north.

The Ministry of Health said the campaign launched on Monday was being shown on thousands of advertising screens in Washington, Oregon and California, at locations within a 16-kilometre radius of health-care facilities, as well as on podcasts and Netflix shows.

B.C. Health Minister Josie Osborne said at a news conference it was a step B.C. needed to “take right now” to attract physicians, nurses and other health care workers, and the province would do everything in its power to ease their transition.

“This will help supercharge our overall recruitment campaign to attract U.S. health care workers to B.C.,” she said.

In one of the ads, a disgruntled-looking woman in hospital scrubs listens to “more news from Washington” before the scene cuts to outdoor views of British Columbia, and listeners are urged to “follow your heart” to the province.

Osborne said the campaign was expected to reach about 250,000 health care workers.

She said B.C. was “taking advantage of the uncertainty and chaos” in the United States after the election of President Donald Trump by reaching out to health workers who shared the values of the province’s health care system.

One ad says recruits can “practice evidence-based care” in B.C., while another promises “universal health care that puts people first.”

Looming over these efforts is the question of whether B.C.’s public single-payer system offers sufficient financial incentives. 

Osborne said it was difficult to directly compare physician salaries in B.C. with those in the United States. 

“But I can say that with some of the recent changes we’ve made, and how we pay family doctors, we know that we have competitive salaries,” she said. 

“We also know that we offer very competitive salaries for nursing. We offer some of the highest nursing wages in Canada. We also know, though, that doctors are not just motivated by dollars and cents.”

Osborne said nearly 1,600 health-care providers had already expressed an interest in moving to B.C. even before the ads launched. These included 700 doctors and 500 nurses, but she could not say how many had made it to B.C. 

“We’re going to do everything we can to attract as many physicians and nurses as possible,” she said without giving a specific target number. 

“Ultimately, the success is measured by what people experience in their communities,” she added.

She said B.C. would eventually expand international recruitment to other jurisdictions, likening the process to hitting a target. 

“We’ve got the U.S. right in the centre, the bull’s eye, and then right outside in the next rings, are countries like the United Kingdom,” she said. “That’s where we’ll be focusing our efforts next.” 

This report by Wolfgang Depner of The Canadian Press was first published June 6, 2025.