Labour shortages in health care professions have become a pressing issue across many Canadian jurisdictions and were especially exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. To help address these shortages, federal, provincial and territorial governments have implemented measures to facilitate the entry of skilled immigrants with health care qualifications into their respective professions (ESDC, 2022; World Education Services, 2023), among other government actions to strengthen the health workforce. However, comprehensive data on the numbers, sociodemographic characteristics and labour market outcomes of internationally educated health care professionals (IEHPs) remain scarce.
This article provides estimates of the number of IEHPs in Canada based on 2021 Census data, shedding light on their distribution across provinces and territories. It further examines the sociodemographic characteristics of IEHPs and explores their occupational distribution across major fields of study. This article serves as a snapshot of a comprehensive report, which will be released later, offering detailed descriptive and multivariate analyses of the labour market outcomes of IEHPs.
In this article, IEHPs were defined as landed immigrants who held a postsecondary certificate, diploma or degree from outside Canada in a health field of study and who reported it as their highest certificate, diploma or degree. Temporary residents and Canadian-born people who received their highest certificate, diploma or degree in health in a foreign country were excluded.
The number and characteristics of internationally educated health care professionals in Canada
There were an estimated 259,695 IEHPs aged 18 to 64 residing in Canada in 2021, accounting for 13% of all Canadians in the same age group with postsecondary education in a health field (excluding temporary residents). Nearly half of IEHPs resided in Ontario (116,310), followed by British Columbia (45,235), Alberta (42,035) and Quebec (30,595). The Atlantic region and the three territories had the lowest numbers of IEHPs, ranging from 475 in Prince Edward Island and 605 in the three territories to 3,195 in Nova Scotia (Table 1).
The majority of IEHPs—about 7 in 10—were women, and two-thirds of IEHPs were younger than 50 years. About half of IEHPs immigrated to Canada between the ages of 25 to 34. Nearly one‑third of all IEHPs had recently arrived in Canada (between 2016 and 2021).
The demographic characteristics of IEHPs varied by province. For instance, there were fewer women among IEHPs in Newfoundland and Labrador (61%) and New Brunswick (63%) compared with other provinces and territories. About half of IEHPs in Prince Edward Island, Manitoba and Saskatchewan were younger than 40 years, compared with 31% in New Brunswick and 32% in British Columbia. Prince Edward Island (65%) and Nova Scotia (52%) had higher proportions of recently arrived IEHPs than other provinces and territories.
Most IEHPs (98%) could speak at least one of Canada’s official languages, with the majority reporting another mother tongue, but proficiency in English (65%). As expected, the language profile of IEHPs in Quebec differed substantially from other jurisdictions, with a higher proportion reporting French as their mother tongue (22%) than in other provinces and territories. Manitoba (77%), Ontario (72%) and Saskatchewan (72%) had the highest proportions of IEHPs whose mother tongue was a non-official language but who could speak English.
In terms of the educational profile of IEHPs, over one-third had a bachelor’s degree, and about one-fifth had a degree in medicine, dentistry or optometry. About one-quarter of IEHPs held a postsecondary credential below a bachelor’s degreeNote as their highest level of education. Across jurisdictions, higher proportions of IEHPs in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario, and New Brunswick had a degree in medicine, dentistry or optometry compared with the proportion of all IEHPs in Canada.
The majority of IEHPs received their education in Asia (63%), while 11% studied in an English-speaking Western country. IEHPs who studied in Asia accounted for the majority of IEHPs in Manitoba (75%) and Saskatchewan (73%). The proportion of IEHPs who studied in an English-speaking Western country was highest in New Brunswick (21%), while the proportion of IEHPs who studied in French-speaking European countries was highest in Quebec (13%).
About one-third of IEHPs in Canada studied nursing. Those who trained to be physicians (15%) came next, followed by those who studied in the fields of pharmacy (8%) and dentistry (8%). Of note, over half of IEHPs in Prince Edward Island studied nursing (53%), while Newfoundland and Labrador had the highest proportion of IEHPs who were trained to be physicians (30%), and Ontario had the highest proportions of IEHPswho studied dentistry (10%) or pharmacy (9%).
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