The Minister of Labor and Immigration, Jean Boulet, announced on Wednesday an investment of $65 million over two years to recruit and integrate these international candidates.
“To speed up the process, we will focus on French-speaking candidates. We will ensure that there is compatibility between the training acquired abroad, the clinical experience also from abroad and what we are doing in Quebec. And these people will be able to benefit from refresher training as soon as they arrive,” said Minister Boulet.
These staff will be intended for Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Côte-Nord, Bas-Saint-Laurent, Gaspésie, Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, Baie-James and Outaouais. However, Minister Boulet specified that the candidates will not be required to work in these regions.
At his side, his colleague in Health, Christian Dubé, acknowledged that the objective of 1,000 nurses may seem modest out of a total workforce of 70,000 nurses, but he argued that “when we have load shedding problems, often one, two, three nurses in a region will make a big difference”. Mr. Dubé added a little later that the incentives and bonuses to attract nurses to the regions work. He gave the example of Senneterre, in Abitibi, where four nurses were missing and where three new nurses were recruited. Just one more will make all the difference, he noted.
The candidates will be welcomed in the CEGEPs of the targeted regions to receive refresher training lasting 9 to 12 months which will lead to recognition of their training and clinical experience by the Order of Nurses. They will be allowed to work up to 20 hours a week as patient attendants during their training.
Candidates will also receive a stipend of $500 per week for the duration of the training. Tuition fees, College equivalency application fees and the cost of refresher training will all be covered by the Department of Immigration.
“People will benefit from truly personalized support,” said Jean Boulet, who added that we will go as far as “helping them find accommodation, obtain a driving license, enroll their children in school and, of course, to prepare their comparative evaluation file for studies done outside Quebec”.
People recruited through this program will be able to settle in Québec with their immediate family. Their spouse will receive an open work permit. Candidates who fail their training can continue to work as patient attendants.
Already, 344 candidates have been recruited, and the first cohorts of nurses will arrive in the fall of 2022 and in 2023 to complete their refresher training.
The French-speaking countries targeted for the recruitment of nurses for the first phase of the project are Algeria, Cameroon, Morocco, Tunisia and Mauritius. Subsequently, we will target the Ivory Coast, Lebanon, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Senegal.
Students from French-speaking Africa, however, face strong discrimination from federal immigration authorities, as they are rarely granted admission to the country, according to revelations made by Radio-Canada last November.
Minister Boulet, who promises to support the candidates in their dealings with Ottawa, is well aware of this. However, he reminds us that if the selection is in Quebec, the admission is in Ottawa. “There is an issue with Ottawa, and that is one of the reasons why I frequently speak with my colleague [le ministre fédéral de l’Immigration, Sean] Fraser in Ottawa. And [pour ce qui est du] percentage of refusal of study permits for students from French-speaking countries, he is arrested, and the situation is to be rectified.
“As for the granting of permanent residences, that is an issue that concerns me enormously, and I am forced to say that that is the exclusive jurisdiction of Ottawa. »
— A quote from Jean Boulet, Minister of Labor and Immigration
“There are issues of efficiency and diligence in processing the files of people who want to stay here permanently, in Quebec, before they can be granted this status,” lamented Minister Boulet while promising to keep the pressure on Ottawa on this file.
Author: ici.radio-canada.ca – Seneweb.com
