Change of course of the Legault government. Haiti will eventually be added to the list of eligible countries for a new overseas nursing recruitment program.
Posted at 4:13 p.m.
The Press published an article on Tuesday on the misunderstanding of Haitian nurses working in the Quebec health system. They had difficulty understanding why Haiti – the second country of origin of the greatest number of nurses outside Quebec – was excluded from a program of 65 million over two years aimed at recruiting 1,000 nurses abroad.
It was on Twitter that the Minister of Labor, Jean Boulet, announced Tuesday afternoon that Haiti will finally be added “to the list of prioritized countries. Quebec needs talent to meet the labor shortage! “.
The Minister added that Haitian candidates, like “graduates from foreign countries, are entitled to the allowance of $500 per week to follow the refresher training”.
In recent days, Minister Boulet’s office justified the exclusion of Haiti by the fact that two main criteria had guided the choice of countries selected for the new program, namely the fact that the program targeted candidates from French-speaking countries and that The training offered in education systems abroad is similar to that in Quebec. These explanations had upset the Haitians here, who are French-speaking and whose compatriots get many jobs in the health network.
According to Haitian nurses interviewed by The Pressinclusion in the program is important in that it allows candidates to establish themselves here accompanied by their immediate family, with their children and spouse, who receive an open work permit.
According to the latest portrait of the nursing workforce dating from March 2021, 563 nurses of Haitian origin are members of the Order of Nurses of Quebec.