A Scottish-born midwife, who was ordered to stop working in British Columbia and threatened with deportation, has returned home, highlighting what advocates say is a case of a foreign-trained health care worker getting entangled in bureaucratic errors amid a shortage in the province.

Heather Gilchrist, who worked at The Midwives Collective in Victoria for about six months, left for Glasgow, Scotland, on Saturday after she was unable to get clearance from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to remain in the country. Ms. Gilchrist completed the Internationally Educated Midwives Bridging Program through the University of British Columbia, which helps graduates transition to working in Canada.

She was told her work permit was not approved because she failed to upload an English proficiency test, according to politicians and families who have supported her. Later, immigration officials erroneously told her the UBC program did not lead to a certificate, diploma or degree, the supporters said. Ms. Gilchrist could not be reached Wednesday for comment.

Ilana Stanger-Ross, a registered midwife and co-founder of The Midwives Collective, said it was “incredibly frustrating to lose an experienced, excellent midwife like Heather because of an unanticipated bureaucratic decision.”

“Women and families are the ones to lose out,” she said.

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Jeffrey MacDonald, a spokesman for IRCC, said that because of privacy legislation, the department cannot comment on an individual case without consent.

British Columbia launched a recruitment campaign for health care workers last June, mainly targeting the Pacific U.S. The province has also faced a shortage of obstetricians-gynecologists, which has resulted in patients being diverted and clinics closing.

Anika Bell, a 32-year-old who is expecting her first child and is due on April 28, said she has received care during her pregnancy from a team of midwives that included Ms. Gilchrist.

“She was very compassionate and thorough,” Ms. Bell said, adding she and her husband felt they were in good hands.

“Now that we are down a midwife and without her care, it’s definitely feeling a bit more stressful.”

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Ms. Bell believes that IRCC officials made a mistake when they denied Ms. Gilchrist’s work permit. She said the notion of the federal government denying work permits to qualified and competent professionals is both incomprehensible and out of touch.

“It feels deeply unfair to Heather and wrong,” she said, adding there is a considerable lack of health care professionals, including doctors, nurses and midwives in Greater Victoria.

Laurel Collins, who previously served as an NDP MP for Victoria, also believes an error was made in Ms. Gilchrist’s case and she shares concerns about the lack of access to health care workers.

Ms. Collins said she knows many families who are searching for medical care while there is a critical shortage of midwives and obstetrician-gynecologists in B.C. It has resulted in some patients travelling hundreds of kilometres to give birth.

“Asking the people who are currently working here to leave is just atrocious,” she said.

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Ms. Collins knows first-hand what it is like to be cared for through The Midwives Collective. The midwife who attended the birth of her daughter completed the same UBC bridging program as Ms. Gilchrist.

At the end of last month, two of Ms. Collins’s former parliamentary colleagues, Gord Johns and Jenny Kwan, wrote to Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab about Ms. Gilchrist’s situation.

The letter, dated March 28, detailed how IRCC initially rejected Ms. Gilchrist’s postgraduate work permit because results from an English exam were not uploaded. It said an online portal did not provide a prompt and that Ms. Gilchrist provided a copy of her results to the department but didn’t hear back.

The letter from the NDP MPs also described how the IRCC reviewed Ms. Gilchrist’s file again, but it was refused a second time because the IRCC claimed the UBC program does not lead to a certificate, diploma or degree. Ms. Kwan and Mr. Johns wrote that the program provided confirmation that graduates are eligible for a work permit upon its completion.

Ms. Collins said the immigration system is failing when individuals like Ms. Gilchrist encounter barriers while patients miss out on medical care that could be offered to them.