Recruitment of nurses abroad | The exclusion of candidates from Haiti denounced

Why is Haiti – which, after France, is the country from which the largest number of nurses come from outside Quebec – excluded from the most recent foreign recruitment program? Not explaining that French and the training of candidates in their country of origin suddenly seem to be a problem, Haitian nurses here are asking the Legault government for answers.

Louise Leduc
The Press

In February, the Minister of Labour, Jean Boulet, announced that his government was going to invest 65 million over 2 years to recruit and integrate 1,000 nurses from abroad. The countries targeted for the first phase are Algeria, Cameroon, Morocco, Tunisia and Mauritius. In later phases of the program, Quebec will target Côte d’Ivoire, Lebanon, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Senegal.

What explains the exclusion of Haiti, when nurses and orderlies from this country are so present in the health network? To this question, Maude Méthot-Faniel, press secretary to the Minister of Labour, replied that two main criteria guided the choice of countries, namely the fact “that they are French-speaking countries and that the training offered in the systems abroad are similar to those in Quebec, to reduce the period of recognition of skills”.

Mr. Boulet’s office also notes that the Ministry of Immigration, Francisation and Integration of Quebec “is continuing its work of identifying comparable education systems in other French-speaking countries for the next phases of the project. Other countries, such as Haiti, may be added once the identification work is completed”.

$500 allowance not available

This is also the response that was given to the Rally of Haitian Nurses and Auxiliary Nurses of Montreal. This challenges its president, Maud Pierre-Pierre, who is surprised that the quality of training is being called into question now, while nurses from Haiti continue to arrive in Quebec, to be recognized by the Order of Nurses and nurses of Quebec (OIIQ) and to be hired in the health network.

If the Haitian nurses arrive anyway, what is the problem? The problem lies in the conditions of arrival of the nurses. Candidates selected under the new program will be entitled to a subsistence allowance of $500 per week while they complete their refresher training prescribed by the OIIQ. Haitian nurses who are not recruited under the new program do not have this $500.

In addition, “candidates will be able to settle in Quebec accompanied by their immediate family, that is to say their child(ren) and their spouse, who will receive an open work permit”, indicate the documents. of the Ministry of Labour.

However, it is most of the time alone and without any other help than that of a close relative who sponsors and accommodates them that the nurses of Haiti arrive here, points out Ms.^me Pierre-Pierre.

The topic was covered in the newspaper In texto jounal noua monthly for the Haitian community here, and it was illustrated with a photo showing Prime Minister François Legault being vaccinated by Régine Laurent, a nurse native to Haiti.

A questioned way of doing things

Compared to many other countries, Haiti “is located near Quebec and French is spoken there. One would have thought that Haiti would automatically have been part of the new program, ”notes Edith Comeau-Georges, a retired nurse also from this country.

In the office of the Minister of Labour, we were told that France and Belgium, where many nurses who practice here come from, are not part of this last program either. Maud Pierre-Pierre replies that “these countries already have special agreements with the government”.

Julie Bouchard, president of the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ), finds it hard to understand the government’s way of proceeding. “No matter where the candidates come from, when they arrive they must be assessed and their skills updated. […] I do not know why the files are not studied on their merit individually rather than by nationality. »

At the OIIQ, Marilaine Bolduc-Jacob, Senior Public Relations Advisor, indicates that the recruitment of 1,000 nurses from abroad “is a project we are collaborating on. The choice of countries targeted for recruitment was made by the Government of Quebec.

Supporting figures, the OIIQ confirms that Haiti is the country, after France, from which comes the largest number of nurses graduates outside Quebec.

“Most of the graduate nurses from Haiti who complete a request for recognition of the equivalence of their training obtain a permit to practice from the OIIQ”, also specifies Ms.^me Bolduc-Jacob.