B.C. welcomes ‘express entry’ as competition for foreign-trained doctors ramps up

The federal government is now stepping up efforts to make it easier and more attractive for foreign-trained doctors to practice in Canada.

British Columbia’s health minister is encouraged by a federal announcement about new measures to prioritize and expedite immigration from foreign-trained doctors, but she’s focused on strategies to make sure her province stands out from the others.

In an interview with CTV News, Josie Osborne said the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) is top of mind for her and her ministry and “being able to increase the capacity of that program, to be able to get out there in the marketplace as we are as a province.”

The PNP is the economic stream for immigrants – including entrepreneurs and health-care workers – to land them on a pathway to permanent residency.

The Ministry of Health has also established a website to connect medical personnel with “navigators” to help guide them over the administrative hurdles, paperwork, and even college approvals needed to practice in B.C.

“(We have) the practice-ready assessment program working with physician assistants, working with others who can come in and maybe they work under supervision to make sure that their experience, their credentials, are exactly what we need here at British Columbia,” she said. “We want to do everything we can because we know that we need more physicians, more nurses, more allied health care workers in pretty much every community across British Columbia.”