SALABERRY-DE-VALLEYFIELD, Qc – The Quebec government’s ambitious project to recruit 1,000 nurses internationally, launched in February 2022, is nearing completion. If all goes according to plan, the Department of Health and Human Services (MSSS) plans to launch Phase 4 of its plan next fall and say “mission accomplished”.

According to the latest MSSS data, hundreds of candidates continue to arrive from Tunisia, Cameroon, Morocco, Algeria, Lebanon and Haiti, to name just a few of the many Francophonic countries affected by the operation.

However, it will still be a few months before the program has an impact in healthcare facilities. As foreseen in the process, health workers are recruited in their country of origin and employed by a CISSS or a CIUSSS.

These candidates must then take a French language proficiency test and then be assessed by the Ordre des Nurses du Québec (OIIQ) to ensure they have an appropriate level of proficiency. The OIIQ then issues a personalized training prescription for each candidate to expedite their educational journey in Quebec.

Upon arrival in the province of La Belle, these professionals must undergo a training program in an educational institution to familiarize themselves with the practices existing in the health network. This program lasts approximately one year, after which newcomers must gain their professional license by passing the OIIQ nursing certification exam.

Thus, the first nurses recruited abroad under this program are expected to start their work towards the end of 2023.

According to the latest MSSS data, Phase 1 of the project was able to enroll 205 people between September and November 2022. These professionals should therefore be able to practice the nursing profession in Quebec by the end of next fall.

The candidates selected in phase 2 will then follow, ie 240 people admitted between January and April 2023. Then another cohort of 202 recruits is expected for Phase 3 between May and July next year. Finally, phase 4 currently has an estimated number of 377 people whose training is planned to start in autumn 2023.

Given this influx of professionals willing to give up everything to settle in Quebec and work in the healthcare network, one might wonder if they are aware of the current working conditions and the tension between staff and management in healthcare institutions.

However, two students from Cégep de Valleyfield’s continuing education program, interviewed by The Canadian Press, confirm that the news has found its way to Cameroon but does not scare them.

“It didn’t worry me, I already have family here,” replies Emelda Tabot. I have a cousin who works as a health care nurse so she used to tell me how it was going. She said to me: “If I do it, you can do it too”.

Ms. Tabot, who specializes in elderly care, assures us that her cousin never tried to stop her from coming, quite the opposite. “She kind of encouraged me. She even waited for me at the airport!” says the woman, who likes to work as a privileged nurse in a CHSLD while studying.

Working overtime is nothing new for Étienne Ndzana, who worked in the operating room of a hospital in Yaoundé.

“We try to read what is happening elsewhere. We received information from social media. We knew the hours were like this, he mentions. We also have long working hours in Cameroon. There are services that you cannot leave.”

The man with around nine years of experience as a nurse comes across as a perennial optimist. He describes himself primarily as a care enthusiast.

“I think when you love something, you don’t see the time go by. I like medicine, and when I take care of the human person, when I give care to them, I don’t see time passing. The time doesn’t matter to you, the illness or the pain that you want to avoid is much more important,” he is convinced.

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