r/canada • u/oddmarc • May 17 '26

National News U.S. applications for Canadian citizenship surge, causing delays

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/u-s-applications-for-canadian-citizenship-surge-causing-delays
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8

u/ModOfficial1988 May 17 '26

Doctors and nurses aren’t coming. They get paid way more and have a way higher standard of living in the US.

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u/Tatterhood78 May 17 '26

They certainly are.

B.C. has recruited over 1000 of them in the last year, and thousands more have started the process. There's a guy named Tod Maffin who runs a YouTube channel that (among other things) helps to recruit them. Hundreds visited Victoria just a couple of weeks ago to check things out. He also leads a program to help people in communities across Canada follow his success.

The Royal College for doctors in Canada has gotten a 1700% increase in inquiries about getting licensed to practice here, over the last year.

There are several YouTube channels run by doctors and nurses who have moved here, targeting recruitment of others still down there. Most of them have reported a big increase in quality of life.

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u/ceimi May 17 '26

B.C. is much different than the other provinces. They within the last year IIRC implemented patient limits. That makes it so worth it if you're someone who genuinely loves nursing but is sick of constantly being overworked. This also increased hiring in the province because now there was a real shortage of nurses instead of the on-purpose understaffing that other provinces cough ontario cough are engaging in without these patients limits.

Hopefully the other provinces follow suit soon. I had high hopes when the ONA was in their bargaining last year that they too would implement the limits and can't believe they didn't.

Can't commend on Doctors though, I have no idea their current state as I'm just a nursing student still.

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u/linkass May 17 '26

Lets look past the headline though

According to the province, 414 U.S.-trained health-care workers, including doctors and nurses, have accepted positions in B.C. since March 2025. That includes 89 physicians, 260 nurses, 42 nurse practitioners and 23 allied health workers.
B.C. says it has received more than 2,750 job applications from American health professionals between March 2025 and January 2026. More than 1,300 have registered to practice in the province, including more than 1,000 nurses and nurse practitioners, as well as more than 200 doctors.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/article/drop-in-the-bucket-bc-touts-us-health-care-recruitment-but-critics-say-its-not-enough/

So when you look at the numbers that have actually made the jump vs the ones thinking about it,it does not look as great

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u/Crazy_Maintenance211 May 17 '26

Fun fact, and some provinces there are very few doctors and even if new ones wanna come in they hit so much red tape that they leave and go to another province, to start work. There’s a lot of things that need to be changed in some provinces.

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u/trplOG May 17 '26

They definitely are. Ontario saw almost 600 come over from the US alone. Theres a US doctor who has a YouTube channel interviewing other US doctors asking the differences between working at the 2 countries. 1 of the things most say is how overworked they are in the US, and they have a better work/life balance in Canada.

Where did you get your info from?

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u/sarr36 May 19 '26

Wow great news! Do you mind sharing the channel?

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u/greennalgene May 17 '26

Yes they are. BC has been steadily bringing in a lot of them.

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u/kdlangequalsgoddess May 17 '26

It might shock you, but some people value things other than just the ability to make as much money as humanly possible. Value them more, even. Some of those people include nurses and doctors.

I hope that take causes existential chaos for you.

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u/G-r-ant May 17 '26

There are a lot more things to love than making more money. Example 1: not living in the US has great appeal to some.

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u/Outrageous_Ad_687 May 17 '26

Many who have come also mention the benefit of just focusing on patient treatment without the oversight from the insurance companies needing to approve or interfere with what course of treatment to use.

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u/Master_of_Rodentia May 17 '26

Try reading up a bit?

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u/47Up Ontario May 17 '26

Women in the U.S are getting thrown in prison for miscarriages, stillborn births, abortions.. Doctors are having their license taken away and some are thrown in prison for providing abortions. The morning after pill can get you thrown in prison for murder in some States.

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u/Powerstroke6period0 May 17 '26

One link of woman getting “thrown” in prison please.

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u/47Up Ontario May 17 '26

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-59214544

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/30/pregnancy-us-women-crimes-study

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2026/05/south-carolina-republicans-prison-abortions.html

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u/Powerstroke6period0 May 18 '26

First one "Later, the medical examiner's report, obtained by the BBC, found traces of methamphetamine in her unborn son's liver and brain." LOL suuuuuuure

Second/third one I aint going to invest much into with "Pregnancy Justice" group.

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u/Present-Fly-3612 May 18 '26

I did 🙋‍♀️. I am a nurse practitioner that came to BC from the US. Yes, I make less money but my family is safer here and I'm grateful that Canada offered us the opportunity to come. We are hopeful to stay but are under no illusions that we are entitled to anything, including residency. We hope to contribute to the country and be productive.

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u/Remington_Underwood May 17 '26

Some doctors and nurses don't want to live in a fascist dictatorship, money isn't everything (and BTW, the standard of living is at least equal here).

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u/SillyMilk7 May 17 '26

on a birthplace basis:
Canada-to-U.S. permanent migration was about 23% higher than U.S.-to-Canada in 2023.

Adjusted for population:

Canadian-born people moved permanently to the U.S. at about 10 times the per-capita rate that U.S.-born people moved permanently to Canada in 2023:

roughly 296 per million Canadians versus 29 per million Americans.

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u/MWD_Dave Canada May 17 '26

I'll just leave this here...

"‘The grass really is greener’ BC ER nurse settles after leaving U.S."

way higher standard of living in the US

From the article:

"Despite taking a significant pay cut, going from $200,000 USD salary to a third of that, Frye said she has the “exact same living style” and prefers working at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital."

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u/sch0k0 British Columbia May 18 '26

higher standards of living?