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Interprovincial Nurse Migration in Canada:

Canada’s nursing shortage is not a single crisis, but a patchwork of local struggles that vary province by province. Some regions are drawing in new graduates and building their workforce, while others are losing nurses faster than they can train them. Between 2020 and 2025, interprovincial migration, the movement of nurses across provincial and territorial borders, has become one of the most important forces shaping Canada’s healthcare system.

Dec 1, 2025

Understanding who is gaining, who is losing, and why nurses move offers valuable insight into how to create a more sustainable workforce. This article explores the data, the policies, and the personal stories behind nurse migration in Canada.

Where Nurses Are Going and Leaving

The clearest window into migration trends comes from examining new graduates. Between 2015 and 2019, data shows that British Columbia and Nova Scotia emerged as net importers of nurses, attracting far more than they lost.

British Columbia gained nearly 1,000 new graduates during this period, with a residency rate of 110 percent, meaning it drew in more nurses than it produced.
Nova Scotia showed a similar pattern, gaining more than 200 nurses net, with a residency rate of 108 percent.

By contrast, New Brunswick and Newfoundland & Labrador became strong exporters. Only 87 percent of NB grads and 89 percent of NL grads registered to practice in their home province, with many heading to Nova Scotia, Ontario, or Alberta for work.

Ontario and Quebec, despite their size, were net losers as well, with slightly negative migration balances. Meanwhile, Manitoba and Saskatchewan managed to hold steady, keeping most of their graduates but attracting few from outside.

These patterns have sharpened in recent years. Provinces with stronger recruitment strategies and more favourable working conditions have pulled ahead, while those with fewer resources are falling further behind.

Vacancy Rates and Workforce Pressures

Migration cannot be separated from staffing realities on the ground. Prince Edward Island saw job vacancies in healthcare soar by 56 percent between 2019 and 2023, while Saskatchewan’s vacancies jumped by 52 percent. These provinces are precisely the ones losing graduates, a cycle that makes recovery even harder.

By comparison, British Columbia (+6.7 percent) and Alberta (+8 percent) posted much smaller vacancy increases, suggesting that migration inflows may be easing their shortages. Still, even in these provinces, rural and northern areas continue to struggle with persistent vacancies that urban centres cannot offset.

Licensing Barriers: A Patchwork of Rules

Why do nurses not move more freely to where they are most needed? The answer lies in Canada’s fragmented licensing system. Each province and territory regulates its own nurses, meaning that a nurse licensed in one jurisdiction cannot automatically practice in another.

Ontario has taken the boldest step to break this barrier. In 2023, through Bill 60, it introduced an “as-of-right” rule. Any nurse registered in another Canadian jurisdiction can begin working in Ontario immediately while completing local registration. This policy has helped Ontario plug urgent gaps, especially in hospitals strained by COVID-19 aftershocks.

At the national level, the Canadian Nurses Association has urged the creation of a pan-Canadian licence, similar to the Red Seal model used in trades, that would allow nurses to move seamlessly between provinces. But until such a framework is adopted, many nurses hesitate to take contracts outside their home jurisdiction, limiting mobility when it is most needed.

The Push and Pull of Migration

Data tells us where nurses are moving, but the reasons behind those moves are equally important.

Pull factors include higher wages in Alberta and British Columbia, safe staffing policies such as B.C.’s legislated nurse-to-patient ratios, and broader career opportunities in large urban centres.

Push factors include heavy overtime and high vacancies in provinces like Saskatchewan, PEI, and New Brunswick, limited professional development or spousal employment opportunities in rural areas, and rising cost of living in some provinces that can offset wage advantages.

As one Ontario oncology nurse explained when relocating: “I wasn’t just chasing a bigger paycheque. I wanted to work in a system where I could go home at night without feeling completely drained. Ratios and support made the difference.”

Seasonal and Contract Movement

Not all migration is permanent. Travel nursing has become a defining feature of Canada’s health workforce. Nurses on short-term contracts move between provinces to cover vacation gaps, seasonal surges, or rural shortages.

Northern communities in Yukon and the Northwest Territories rely heavily on travel nurses, who often come from Ontario or Atlantic Canada. Saskatchewan has also begun offering rural recruitment incentives that blend short-term contracts with long-term settlement bonuses.

While some critics point to the high cost of agency staffing, travel nursing serves as a crucial pressure valve. It reduces burnout among permanent staff, keeps essential services running, and introduces nurses to communities they may eventually choose to call home.

Organizations such as Select Medical Connections have been central in supporting this mobility. By connecting nurses with flexible opportunities across the country, they help balance staffing pressures and offer professionals the chance to explore diverse practice settings.

Policy Responses and the Road Ahead

The uneven migration landscape raises urgent questions. Should Canada continue to let provinces compete for scarce nurses, or is a national strategy needed to balance the workforce?

Promising steps are underway. B.C.’s ratio legislation has made it an attractive destination, Manitoba and Nova Scotia are experimenting with staffing frameworks, and Ontario’s portability reforms are a model for the rest of the country. But unless mobility is addressed nationally, provinces already losing nurses risk falling into a downward spiral that becomes nearly impossible to reverse.

Interprovincial nurse migration is redrawing Canada’s healthcare map. British Columbia and Nova Scotia are winning the talent race, while provinces like New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador, and Saskatchewan are watching their workforce erode.

Solutions exist. Safe staffing policies make provinces more attractive, national licensing could remove barriers to movement, and travel nursing offers a sustainable way to plug immediate gaps. What is needed now is coordination: policies that not only attract nurses to certain regions but also ensure every Canadian, no matter where they live, has access to safe, reliable nursing care.