By Mata Press Service

Canada is struggling to fill thousands of nursing positions while highly educated immigrants already working in its hospitals and care homes remain trapped in lower-paid jobs that fail to use their qualifications.

New Statistics Canada data show that nearly one in eight licensed practical nursing positions remained vacant in 2025, even as earlier federal research found that 62 per cent of recent immigrants working in those roles held university degrees.

Many had health-related qualifications from overseas, with education levels comparable to Canadian-born registered nurses.

The findings expose a persistent mismatch in Canada's health-care system, where a shortage of workers continues alongside barriers that prevent internationally educated professionals from practising at their full qualifications.

The Statistics Canada report released this month shows the country's health workforce grew to more than 1.7 million people last year, an increase of 4.9 per cent.

Yet employers were still trying to fill 67,900 health-care vacancies, nearly three times the number recorded in 2016.

Licensed practical nurses faced the most severe shortage among the major health occupations examined, with a vacancy rate of 12.3 per cent, five times the rate recorded nine years earlier.

Despite growing demand, the number of people working as licensed practical nurses showed no net growth between 2019 and 2025.

The deeper problem emerges when the latest workforce figures are compared with a separate Statistics Canada study published in April 2025.

Based on the 2021 census, that research found that 62 per cent of recent immigrants employed as licensed practical nurses held a bachelor's degree or higher, compared with just 4.9 per cent of Canadian-born workers in the same occupation.

Nearly half of the recent immigrants had earned a health-related degree outside Canada.

Their educational attainment was remarkably similar to that of Canadian-born registered nurses, 61.8 per cent of whom held at least a bachelor's degree.

The federal researchers said the findings suggested widespread overqualification and potential barriers to obtaining Canadian licences that matched immigrants' education.

The consequences extend beyond job titles.

In 2025, registered nurses aged 25 to 54 earned an average of approximately $46 an hour, compared with about $33 for licensed practical nurses.

For immigrants unable to secure recognition of their qualifications, the difference can mean substantially lower earnings despite years of education and professional training.

The mismatch is particularly striking among immigrants educated in nursing overseas.

Only 36.5 per cent of immigrants with a foreign bachelor's degree in nursing were employed as registered nurses or in closely related occupations in 2021.

Among workers with Canadian nursing degrees, the figure was 87.4 per cent.

The figures point to a substantial employment gap between internationally educated nursing graduates and those trained in Canada.

The same pattern is evident among nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates, the front-line workers who help patients with daily care in hospitals, nursing homes and other facilities.

Canada employed approximately 326,000 people in these occupations in 2025, with immigrants playing a critical role in keeping the workforce staffed.

According to the 2021 census, nearly 45 per cent of these workers were immigrants. Among those aged 25 to 34, almost one-quarter were recent immigrants or temporary residents.

Yet 47.1 per cent of recent immigrants working in these positions held university degrees, compared with only 6.3 per cent of Canadian-born workers.

Almost one-quarter of the recent immigrants had obtained health-related degrees overseas.

Statistics Canada researchers described these jobs as an entry point into the Canadian health-care system for newcomers, including those with qualifications substantially above the requirements of their positions.

The findings raise questions about how effectively Canada recognizes the education and experience of the immigrants it relies on to care for an aging population.

Canada's health-care workforce has expanded faster than employment across the broader economy, yet hospitals and care facilities continue to face serious recruitment problems.

Health occupations accounted for 8.2 per cent of Canadian employment in 2025, compared with 7.4 per cent in 2016.

Although vacancies have fallen from their 2023 peak of 90,700, the health-care vacancy rate remains at 4.5 per cent, well above the national rate of 2.7 per cent.

Nurses and patient-care aides accounted for 65 per cent of all vacant health-care positions last year.

Nearly half of licensed practical nursing vacancies had remained unfilled for at least 90 days.

Wage growth has offered little relief. After inflation, average hourly earnings for registered nurses aged 25 to 54 were 1.4 per cent lower than in 2019, while wages for licensed practical nurses were virtually unchanged.

The latest findings add to longstanding concerns about Canada's treatment of internationally educated health professionals, particularly those whose qualifications and experience are not fully recognized.

Professional licensing standards are intended to protect patients and ensure that health workers meet Canadian requirements. But the federal research suggests credential barriers may also be preventing qualified immigrants from advancing into jobs that better reflect their education.

The figures do not establish how many foreign-trained workers would qualify for higher-level positions, but they reveal a substantial pool of educated newcomers whose skills may be underused.