Health worker migration in Canada: Histories, geographies, and ethics (Working paper number 12-02)

Abstract

This working paper explores issues of health worker migration through examining the history, geography, and ethics of international recruitment and migration of health workers to Canada, focusing on the experiences of registered nurses from the Philippines. During the past few decades the migration of Filipino nurses to Canada has considerably expanded, with nurses from the Philippines making up the largest group of all immigrant nurses in the Canadian workforce. Derived from presentations, discussions, and insights from an interdisciplinary workshop on health worker migration attended by academics, professionals, policymakers and health workers, we underscore the importance of further debate on the issues confronting recent migrant nurses from the Philippines to Canada. The aim of this working paper is to bring the complexity of the experiences of migrating nurses in health care explored during the workshop through various lenses of transnational historical research and biographical reflection, contextual and local geographical studies, evolving ethical norms and policies guidelines around recruitment, national and internationally, to a wider audience. We call for more in-depth academic research engaging the perspectives of policymakers and health professionals and of migrant nurses affected by their decisions. Furthermore, we bring forward recommendations and insights raised during the workshop.