Newfoundland and Labrador and Saskatchewan are engaged in a fierce battle to recruit health workers as both provinces organize recruitment activities in their respective territories.

In fact, Newfoundland and Labrador announced Thursday that Health Minister Tom Osborne will travel to Saskatchewan next week to encourage health workers to settle in Canada’s easternmost province.

On Thursday, recruiters from the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) also sought to attract health care professionals from Saint John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador during planned recruiting events at Memorial University and a downtown hotel.

Yvette Coffey, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Registered Nurses Union, was not impressed by the recruiting duel.

She said the money Mr. Osborne will spend to bring a team to Saskatchewan could be better used to improve conditions for workers already in Newfoundland and Labrador and develop a strategy to retain them.

Let’s work on our province and the health system and examine the elements that prevent people from accepting permanent full-time positions or remaining in permanent full-time positions in our provinceshe said.

Additionally, Ms. Coffey said she wants the provinces to work together on a national retention strategy rather than fighting over workers.

According to an article posted on the provincial authority’s website, the Saskatchewan Health Authority’s (SHA) two-day stay in Saint John is part of its recruiting tour of eastern Canada.

This tour began in Toronto and Montreal earlier this month and will end in Halifax and Charlottetown in October.

The health authority referred a request for comment to the provincial health ministry, which did not immediately respond to questions.

The New Democratic Party of Newfoundland and Labrador, in turn, describes Mr. Osborne’s mission asunnecessary exercises with the breast pump.

If Mr. Osborne had been sure that this province was a good place to live, his response to Saskatchewan would have been: “Just try it. Our healthcare workers are here forever.” joked the boss NPD Provincial Jim Dinn in a press release.

According to Yvette Coffey, there are approximately 750 available foster positions in Newfoundland and Labrador. Whether this week’s Saskatchewan events in St. John’s will increase that number will depend on the compensation and incentives offered.

There are many dissatisfied nurses and other healthcare workers in the province at the moment. If we offer them better pay or greater benefits, we risk losing some of themconcluded Ms. Coffey.

With information from The Canadian Press