Originally a tourism-related push, a way to boost local business bottom line in the slower early-spring season and to show off the Harbour City to travelling Americans in a time of tariff and sovereignty threats from Washington, the Nanaimo Infusion quickly grew into so much more.
The first event in 2025 drew a few hundred from south of the border, but a meaningful number of healthcare workers were entertaining the idea of a move away from the United States.
A sequel event in 2026 tripled attendance from the original and had a distinct healthcare-related feel, with hundreds of workers and their families coming to Nanaimo with the specific intent of exploring a move.
Many, both years, went on tours of NRGH and other medical clinics in the region.
The success, according to organizers Tod and Jocelyn Maffin, is the grassroots nature of the Infusion premise, which has since expanded to dozens of other communities nationwide.
It aimed to make more meaningful connections between locals and prospective future-locals by answering questions on schools, neighbourhoods, what life is like for those with a disability or those who are part of the LGBTQ+ community.
It’s had a major impact.
Numbers reported in April 2026 suggested around three dozen had already made the move in the 12 months since Infusion 1.0 to work in Nanaimo alone, with a couple of thousand more having applied elsewhere in B.C., and countless others have followed since.
The event, along with advocacy from groups like Fair Care Alliance, has put a firm focus on healthcare workers, not only through recruitment but also retention.
Typically fundraising for equipment purchases, the Nanaimo District Hospital Foundation are in the midst of a campaign to fund incentives for new and current workers.
Financial incentives, training opportunities, temporary housing options, grants and bursaries are all included in the initiative.
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