{"id":539551,"date":"2026-03-23T01:12:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T01:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/539551\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T01:12:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T01:12:08","slug":"b-c-recruits-400-healthcare-workers-most-from-washington-and-oregon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/539551\/","title":{"rendered":"B.C. recruits 400 healthcare workers, most from Washington and Oregon"},"content":{"rendered":"

PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) \u2014 A successful targeted campaign <\/a>recruited more than 400 U.S.-trained healthcare professionals to British Columbia<\/a>, many of whom are from Oregon and Washington.<\/p>\n

British Columbia<\/a>\u2019s public health-care system has seen American doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners and allied health professionals accept job offers as part of a targeted recruitment campaign that began last year, provincial officials said.<\/p>\n

The $5 million campaign mainly targeted workers in the states of Washington and Oregon, as well as some cities in California.<\/p>\n

One year ago, the B.C. government launched efforts to attracted Americans in healthcare to work in communities across the province including rural and remote regions. <\/p>\n

As of January of this year, more than 400 U.S.-trained healthcare professionals have accepted job offers in B.C., tripling the number reported in Sep. 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cBritish Columbia is not only a great place to live, it\u2019s also a great place to work and grow your career,\u201d Premier David Eby said. \u201cOur public health-care system values science, respects reproductive rights and provides great care. We can\u2019t wait to welcome more U.S.-trained doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners and allied health providers to our amazing province.\u201d<\/p>\n

The province said its recruitment efforts launched in March 2025, with a marketing campaign that began in June 2025 targeting Washington and Oregon, along with select cities in California. <\/p>\n

From March 2025 until Jan. 2026, B.C. received more than 2,750 job applications from U.S. doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses and allied health professionals.<\/p>\n

The province said the more than 400 accepted job offers include 89 doctors, 260 nurses, 42 nurse practitioners and 23 allied health professionals.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn less than a year, we\u2019ve successfully recruited hundreds of U.S. health-care professionals who are already helping strengthen B.C.\u2019s public health-care system,\u201d Health Minister Josie Osborne said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey include doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners and allied health providers who are joining teams in hospitals and communities across the province. This is just the beginning \u2013 U.S. health professionals are enthusiastic about the opportunity to work in B.C., and we will continue welcoming them and connecting them with opportunities throughout the province.\u201d<\/p>\n

Growing interest in licensing <\/p>\n

The province also reported growing interest from U.S.-trained professionals seeking to become licensed in B.C. <\/p>\n

More than 1,300 U.S.-trained doctors, nurses and nurse practitioners have registered to practice in the province.<\/p>\n

The province said 1,038 U.S.-trained nurses and nurse practitioners have registered to work in B.C. since the BC College of Nurses and Midwives streamlined the credential-recognition process for U.S.-trained nurses in April 2025. <\/p>\n

That figure is up more than eight times from the year before; in all of 2024, 127 U.S. nurses registered, and 112 registered in 2023.<\/p>\n

For physicians, the province said that from March 1, 2025, until Jan. 31, 2026, more than 210 U.S.-trained and certified doctors registered in B.C., a 145% increase compared with the same period the previous year. <\/p>\n

The province attributed that growth in part to a new pathway implemented in July 2025 by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC aimed at making it easier for U.S.-trained doctors to register.<\/p>\n

Provincial officials said additional steps to reduce barriers for internationally trained health professionals include an expedited credential-recognition process for U.S.-trained and certified nurses, changes to make it easier for U.S.-trained and certified doctors to practice in B.C. without further assessment, examination or training, and more.<\/p>\n

Some communities say the recruitment push is already making a difference.<\/p>\n

\u201cHealth-care recruitment has been a challenge in the North, and we are so grateful for this program that has brought Terrace six American doctors and nurses,\u201d Terrace Mayor Sean Bujtas said. \u201cThe government\u2019s efforts in streamlining the process are well appreciated by the many northern residents who now have a family doctor. We look forward to continuing to support the Province in this recruitment program.\u201d<\/p>\n

British Columbia promoted its publicly funded health-care system, high quality of life, and access to services such as education and child care as key draws for U.S. workers.<\/p>\n

Dr. Ianto West, a U.S. psychologist who moved to Vancouver in July 2025, described his transition as smooth.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never had such a neighbourly experience before. It has been a pretty smooth transition. I moved in July and had an invitation for our first Canadian Thanksgiving by October. I\u2019m loving my bike commute to work, too. It seemed to help that I got registered with the College of Health and Care Professionals of BC first. Once I had a job offer, the rest of the process went fast,\u201d West said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) \u2014 A successful targeted campaign recruited more than 400 U.S.-trained healthcare professionals to British Columbia,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":539552,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-539551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=539551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/539552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=539551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=539551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=539551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}