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N.S. looks to streamline licensure for medical workers new to Canada

Click to play video: 'N.S. looks to qualify more internationally-trained doctors as waitlist grows'
N.S. looks to qualify more internationally-trained doctors as waitlist grows
WATCH: The waitlist for a primary care provider is growing in Nova Scotia, and there are many internationally-educated doctors who want to help. More than a hundred permanent residents in Nova Scotia are qualified doctors in other countries, but so far haven’t been able to have their qualifications recognized here. As Amber Fryday reports, Nova Scotia’s health minister says the province is looking to streamline the process for health-care workers trained outside the country – Aug 10, 2022

As the waitlist for primary care providers continues to grow in Nova Scotia, there are many internationally educated doctors who are waiting to practice.

According to Immigration Services Association of Nova Scotia (ISANS), there are currently 100 immigrant doctors who are already permanent residents, however, their medical qualifications are hardly recognized.

On Tuesday, Nova Scotia’s Minister of Health Michelle Thompson said her department is currently looking into ways to streamline the process for nurses and doctors who have been trained outside of the country to receive their licensing.

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“We know we’re never going to be able to grow the workforce we need right now. We have a significant gap and immigration is going to be an important part of that.”

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According to data released earlier this week, the number of Nova Scotians waiting for a family doctor has increased 4.6 per cent in less than a year. In September, 2021 there were 75,000 on the list – that number has since grown to 105,000.

Thompson says her government is looking at ways to maintain credentialing and that they are committed to understanding how to move forward with the process.

“I don’t anticipate this is going to be work that is going to take us five or six years.”

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