Canada will undertake a recruitment mission in Manila later this month to hire Filipino healthcare workers willing to work in one of its provinces.
The Embassy of Canada in the Philippines announced that the country's Saskatchewan province has employment opportunities open for Filipino nurses, continuing care assistants, and other high priority professions.
“With a vibrant and growing Filipino-Canadian population, Saskatchewan has a strong and meaningful relationship with the Philippines. This mission will allow us to engage directly with Filipino healthcare workers and attract them to the province,” Saskatchewan's Minister of Health Paul Merriman said.
“This initiative is one of the ways our government is delivering on our commitment to attract hundreds of additional healthcare workers to our friendly Saskatchewan communities which are eager to welcome them,” Merriman added.
According to the embassy, starting Nov. 28, a series of workshops and information sessions will be hosted over five days in Manila by Saskatchewan’s delegation which includes Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) representatives.
Merriman will lead the delegation and participate in targeted meetings with key officials from a number of partner agencies to reinforce the province’s important relationship with the Philippines and explore innovative opportunities to strengthen their ties.
“Our province has experienced success in welcoming Filipino nurses and other health-care workers into our workforce and our communities,” Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Seniors and Rural and Remote Health Everett Hindley said.
“Saskatchewan is now home to a large and thriving Filipino community. We’re already generating a lot of interest from the Philippines in the available healthcare jobs the province is currently looking to fill. We offer various incentives, settlement support and assistance to spouses in finding employment in the province,” Hindley added.
The mission aims to advance long-term collaboration and exchanges between Saskatchewan and Philippine post-secondary institutions on curriculum, alignment of nurse training programs and the development of pathways to fast-track Filipino health sciences graduates into the Saskatchewan labour market.
Merriman will be joined on the mission by representatives from Saskatchewan’s two universities and Saskatchewan Polytechnic.
The program is part of Saskatchewan’s Health Human Resources Action Plan to invest over C$60 million and add more than 1,000 health professionals into the health system over the next few years.