A new initiative of the CMF in partnership with PEGASUS Institute

Every year, thousands of experienced health professionals – physicians and nurses – from other countries arrive in Canada looking for better lives for themselves and their families. Coming from diverse backgrounds, with a wealth of knowledge and experience often having faced difficult situations and acquiring unique interpersonal and professional skills, immigrants and refugees still face obstacles when attempting to integrate into the Canadian workforce. This immigration of internationally educated health professionals (IEHPs) is also one key element of solving Canada’s health human resources crisis. It is remarkable then, that nearly half (47%) of IEHPs in Canada are unemployed or underemployed.[1]

IEHPs need information and collegiality to effectively contribute to and thrive in Canadian society. But instead, they are faced with career-determining challenges such as the inability to determine pathways to employment due to lack of information, lack of experience in the Canadian context, the system’s inability to recognize their international credentials, small or inexistent professional networks, and limited capacity to practice in their profession using terminologies in either official language. (TRIEC, 2017).

In 2022 the CMF partnered with the Pegasus Institute to support IEHPs to navigate the pathways available to them in order to enter the Canadian health workforce. The project will include both a digital platform centralizing information and resources of various pathways for physicians and nurses in Canada, as well as a mentoring program to connect IEHPs to others who may be able to provide more guidance and clarity as they negotiate through the system.

[1] Statistics Canada. Adults with a health education but not working in health occupations. 2020-04-29.

 

• IEHP New Digital Platform - First-Stop Shop for IEHPs -- a digital platform centralizing information and resources of various pathways for physicians and nurses in Canada
• Webinars and Networking Events
• Focus Groups Results - Pre-Project Stakeholder Analysis