Burnout has become one of the defining challenges for Canada’s nursing workforce. Across the country, nurses are working longer hours, managing heavier patient loads, and struggling to maintain their own health in the face of relentless pressure. While the strains are universal, the intensity of burnout varies dramatically depending on where a nurse lives and works.

To understand these differences, we built a Nurse Burnout Index that considers four critical factors: overtime, vacancy growth, cost of living, and staffing reforms. Together, these provide a province-by-province view of where burnout is most acute—and where the healthcare system is showing signs of resilience.

Overtime: The Breaking Point

Overtime has become an unfortunate fixture in Canadian hospitals. Nationally, 8 percent of all hospital nursing hours are overtime, which translates to 22.6 million hours in a single year. These aren’t just extra shifts picked up for extra pay, they’re the hours keeping the system from collapsing.

The burden isn’t evenly shared. British Columbia nurses report the highest levels of overtime, at 11.5 percent of total hours worked, while Nova Scotia sits at the other end of the spectrum at just 5.5 percent. Nurses in rural hospitals face even greater pressure, averaging 9.2 percent overtime compared with 7.9 percent in urban settings.

These numbers reveal a dangerous reliance on overtime as a stopgap. While it keeps beds staffed in the short term, it is also a major driver of attrition. Nurses who feel they are constantly working beyond their capacity are more likely to leave the profession entirely.

Vacancy Growth: The Silent Alarm

Vacancy rates tell a parallel story. Some provinces are simply running out of nurses. Between 2019 and 2023, Prince Edward Island saw vacancies rise by 56 percent, while Saskatchewan followed close behind at 52 percent. These provinces are now among the hardest hit by workforce shortages.

By contrast, British Columbia (+6.7 percent) and Alberta (+8 percent) experienced much smaller increases. Recruitment efforts and retention incentives may be helping, though both provinces still report serious staffing challenges in rural and northern communities.

Vacancies don’t just leave shifts unfilled, they raise the workload for those still on the floor. That extra pressure translates directly into higher burnout risk, creating a feedback loop that makes staffing problems even harder to solve.

Cost of Living: A Hidden Driver

Beyond the hospital walls, the cost of living is shaping the burnout story in ways that are less visible but equally important.

In British Columbia, Ontario, and the northern territories, the average monthly cost of living for a single adult can range from $3,500 to $4,500. This makes it harder for nurses to stretch their wages, particularly in expensive housing markets like Vancouver and Toronto. Meanwhile, Atlantic provinces such as New Brunswick and Newfoundland & Labrador are more affordable, at $2,600 to $3,000 per month—but often offer fewer opportunities and lower pay.

This economic mismatch is one reason for nurse migration. Many leave provinces with lower wages for better-paying jobs in more expensive cities, even if the higher costs offset their income gains.

Staffing Ratios: A Beacon of Hope

Safe staffing ratios are one of the most evidence-based solutions to burnout. When nurses are assigned a manageable number of patients, both care quality and job satisfaction improve.

British Columbia broke ground in 2023 by legislating minimum nurse-to-patient ratios across hospitals, long-term care, and community care. Implementation is ongoing, but early signs suggest the policy is already easing workloads. Manitoba and Nova Scotia are following suit with Nursing Hours Per Patient Day frameworks, though they are still in the planning phase.

Elsewhere, staffing ratios remain largely aspirational, advocated for by unions but not yet adopted into law. The uneven progress means that while some provinces are actively addressing burnout, others are leaving the problem to fester.

Who’s Most at Risk?

Our Nurse Burnout Index shows the highest risk in Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, Manitoba, and the northern territories, where overtime, vacancy growth, and cost of living converge to create severe strain.

Ontario and Quebec fall into the moderate-to-high risk category. They report slightly lower overtime, but higher living costs and widespread staffing shortages.

At the other end of the spectrum, Nova Scotia currently shows the lowest burnout risk, thanks to manageable overtime rates and early adoption of workload frameworks. New Brunswick also fares relatively well, though vacancies remain a concern.

The Human Face of Burnout

Statistics capture the scope, but the lived experience of nurses makes the crisis painfully real.

A CFNU survey conducted in 2025 found that nine in ten nurses report some degree of burnout. Nearly half work overtime regularly, and one in four consistently works more than full-time hours. Three-quarters say the demands of their job harm their family life.

As one Ontario oncology nurse put it: “The public needs to know that without better working conditions and more nurses, the system is never going to recover.”

Registered Nurse Jieun Hwang described the personal toll of constant overtime: “Your body is also doing overtime, which can affect the ability to care for your patients.”

Travel Nursing: A Pressure Valve

While structural reforms move slowly, travel nursing has become an essential tool for reducing burnout and keeping the system afloat.

Travel nurses step into short-term contracts, often in rural, remote, or high-vacancy regions. By covering seasonal surges, vacation periods, or sudden staffing gaps, they reduce the overtime burden on permanent staff. Provinces like Yukon and the Northwest Territories depend heavily on travel nurses, while Saskatchewan has begun offering rural recruitment incentives that combine short-term relief with the hope of longer-term settlement.

Travel nursing is not a perfect solution. Agency contracts can be costly, and rotating staff can disrupt continuity of care. But when used strategically, travel nurses provide breathing room for permanent teams and create the sustainability needed while provinces work toward broader staffing reforms.

Organizations such as Select Medical Connections have been at the center of this work, connecting Canadian nurses with flexible opportunities across the country. By matching professionals with regions in need, firms like SMC not only ease the immediate staffing crisis but also give nurses the chance to explore different communities and practice settings. For those interested in learning how travel nursing supports both healthcare systems and individual career growth, SMC offers resources and insights here.

Policy Responses and the Road Ahead

Solutions are emerging, though unevenly. B.C.’s ratios, Manitoba’s pilot frameworks, and Nova Scotia’s early adoption of workload measures show what progress can look like. Ontario and Quebec are under growing pressure to follow suit, while national organizations like the Canadian Nurses Association are calling for pan-Canadian licensing and safe staffing standards.

In the meantime, travel nursing serves as a crucial bridge. It keeps hospitals functioning today while buying policymakers time to fix tomorrow.

Burnout is no longer just an individual struggle, it’s a systemic crisis shaping the future of healthcare in Canada. The Nurse Burnout Index shows which provinces are leading with solutions and which are falling behind, but it also highlights a path forward.

By combining safe staffing reforms with the strategic deployment of travel nurses, Canada can move toward a more sustainable healthcare workforce. The challenge is urgent, but the opportunity is clear: protect nurses now, or risk losing the foundation of the system itself.