Up And Down Beirut
Retaining young nurses in the country remains a challenge, even though the situation is improving in some provinces. For every 100 nurses under the age of 35 who registered to practice in Canada, 34 did not renew their registration, according to a report by the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) published on Thursday.
The MEI’s data comes from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), which compiles applications for licensure from provincial and territorial nursing regulatory bodies.
The reasons why these nurses chose not to renew their licenses are therefore unknown. Nevertheless, the data is not reassuring, according to Gabriel Giguère, a public policy analyst at the MEI and co-author of the report. “This sends a very clear message about the retention rate of young nurses, which is poor,” he commented in an interview.
When comparing the figures from 2023 to 2024, most provinces show an improvement in the ratio of young nurses leaving the profession compared to those entering it. “In other words, the ratio of young nurses leaving the profession relative to those entering it is decreasing. But I want to point out, however, that Quebec is the province with the smallest improvement compared to the others—a two per cent decrease,” notes Giguère.
By comparison, the decline was 17 per cent in Ontario, and the Canadian average (excluding the territories) was a 12 per cent decrease.
In Quebec, the data show that for every 100 nurses who entered the workforce in 2024, 37 nurses under the age of 35 did not renew their licenses to practice.
“What this tells us is that something isn’t working very well when it comes to retention, and this is all the more serious given Quebec’s aging population,” notes Giguère.
The impact of staffing agencies
According to the MEI, the stagnation in Quebec is linked to the implementation of Bill 10, which has gradually reduced the use of nursing staffing agencies and will eventually eliminate them entirely. The organization, which is associated with the economic right, believes these provisions should be repealed to allow private agencies to operate, as they offer nurses flexibility that could help retain them in the profession.
“It can sometimes be quite challenging when you’re a young nurse entering the workforce. You have night shifts, and you have shifts that are less desirable because there’s a seniority system for scheduling. […] It’s extremely difficult to balance work and family life, so staffing agencies allow these nurses to have more flexibility and tailor their schedules,” explains Giguère.
He also believes that Quebec should follow the example of British Columbia, which in 2024 had the lowest turnover rate for young nurses. It is also the province that has improved the most over the past 10 years, having reduced the turnover rate for young nurses by 53 per cent.
British Columbia has shift-swap pools that allow nurses to swap shifts without having to obtain authorization from administration. “In a context where we know that flexibility is one of the major issues for nurses, especially young nurses, […] where the best schedules often go to the most experienced staff, it’s clear that having a system that facilitates this exchange would be welcome, as it is in British Columbia,” says Giguère.
Furthermore, the MEI report highlights that, nationwide, the proportion of nurses under the age of 35 rose from 27.7 per cent in 2014 to over 30 per cent in 2017 and has remained around 30 per cent to 31 per cent since then.
Furthermore, the number of unfilled positions—which stood at more than 27,000 in 2025—has declined from its peak of approximately 41,000 unfilled positions in 2023. “When you look at it year by year, it’s obviously a good thing to have fewer unfilled positions,” agrees Giguère. He notes, however, that the 10-year trend is not moving in the right direction. In 2016, just over 9,000 positions were unfilled—three times fewer than today.
The Canadian Press’s health coverage is supported by a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. The Canadian Press is solely responsible for this journalistic content.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
