As southern employment agencies continue to provide temporary nurses for the Nunavut healthcare system, several Nunavut MLAs are worried that the higher compensation received by agency nurses compared to that of full-time nurses will lead the latter to quit and instead work for an agency. 

SA国际影视传媒淚 know they are necessary, and it seems the Department of Health has to get the agency nurses in order to provide the services to Nunavummiut, but it is a growing problem in terms of an indeterminate nurse, who, in practice, makes less and has less benefits than the agency nurse,SA国际影视传媒� said Joe Savikataaq, MLA for Arviat South.

SA国际影视传媒淎gency nurses are brought up and the government pays the agency company, not the agency nurse. They get free travel, they get free accommodations, and my understanding is that they get a food allowance too. I'm not sure if it's the full per diem or not, but the indeterminate nurses don't get any of that," Savikataaq added. SA国际影视传媒淪o therefore, I've even heard of instances where indeterminate nurses have quit and gone to agency nursing because financially it's better off. They're better off doing that, and I don't know what the solution is, but I'd like to see less reliance on agency nurses.SA国际影视传媒� 

Like the rest of Canada, Nunavut healthcare continues to experience a prolonged nursing shortage.

Savikataaq said it's a difficult situation to be in with no easy answers, and despite recruitment and retention policies, as well as nursing education programs, the shortage still exists due to supply and demand.

Stretching the budget

Adam Arreak Lightstone, MLA for Iqaluit-Manirajak, said he does not deny the fact that Nunavut needs short-term temporary staff to provide crucial healthcare services to Nunavummiut.

SA国际影视传媒淢y concern is the rate at which these extensive costs for transient healthcare staff have ballooned in recent years, and seems like it will continue to grow,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淎nd there has been perceived preferential treatment towards transient employees SA国际影视传媒� transient nurses SA国际影视传媒� above indeterminate full-time Nunavummiut that are nurses. This was an issue I raised back in 2021.SA国际影视传媒�

He added that using the Government of Nunavut staff housing for agency nurses was contributing to the overall housing crisis within the territory. Furthermore, Lightstone said the Department of Health has SA国际影视传媒渆volved their strategySA国际影视传媒� to include transient, casual nursing staff, and indeterminate job share positions. 

Paramedic services were also included several years ago, he said, noting that the GN does not have paramedic positions internally. Those services are used primarily in the summer months, when smaller communities would generally have to close or deal with emergency situations due to the annual leave of regular staff, he said.

Lightstone said while the government does maintain substantial contingency funds to address such much-needed supplementary budget requests, during the last legislative assembly sitting, he asked Department of Health representatives how they will address the extra costs on a long-term basis. 

Long-term solutions

One solution Lightstone proposed was to create a central paramedic staffing unit that could be deployed to address staff shortages throughout the year. That same type of scenario could be created for nurses, he added.

"...when it comes to the much-needed paramedics and nursing, and other healthcare professional staff, such as lab techs, X-ray techs and so on, the Arctic College does what it can, and does its best to try and provide the nursing program, and I hear it is quite a good program in comparison to the other nursing programs across Canada," he said. SA国际影视传媒淗owever, I believe that there's only, on average, seven nursing students that graduate a year, and I'm not sure how many actually stay in and work in Nunavut as nurses.SA国际影视传媒�

In a written response, Chelsea Halvorson, acting manager of communications at the Nunavut Department of Health, said Nunavut has always relied on agency nurses to address staffing shortages. In 2024, there were 413 agency nurse assignments, including 71 nurse practitioners, with an average assignment length of three to four weeks. 

Halvorson said agency nurses cost approximately 25 per cent more than indeterminate nurses, excluding bonuses, allowances and pension benefits available to indeterminate staff.

SA国际影视传媒淒espite higher costs, agency nurses remain critical for ensuring healthcare access in remote communities, where temporary health centre closures could leave residents without care," she stated. "The cost of agency nurses fluctuates annually based on demand. Health has adjusted its budget accordingly to ensure adequate staffing.SA国际影视传媒�

Halvorson indicated the department has made progress in hiring indeterminate, job-share, and casual nurses despite ongoing shortages. 

SA国际影视传媒淏etween April 1 and December 31, 2024, the department hired 14 indeterminate, 13 job-share, and 89 casual nurses.SA国际影视传媒�

Currently, the demand for agency nurses is decreasing, she added, noting agency contracts dropped from 506 in 2023 to 413 in 2024.

She said initiatives such as retention bonuses, shorter job-share rotations, compensation based on experience, a return-of-service program and the "Bring a Family or Friend" program have improved recruitment trends in the territory.

Halvorson cited several challenges in hiring indeterminate staff, including the requirement for specialized skills above and beyond the initial nursing training; the remoteness of the work, resulting in the absence of social or family connections; licensing requirements; and limited housing availability.

Investment needed

Lightstone said investment must be made in training to reduce the need for agency placements.

SA国际影视传媒淎s long as the government does build that contingency fund into the budget, then it will likely continue to be funded until such time as we have sufficient workforce to address the matter, and that length of time will depend on how much investment the government puts into training current and future generations,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

Halvorson indicated that further recruitment efforts are underway and include virtual and in-person job fairs, social media outreach, having nurses share their Nunavut experiences and that SA国际影视传媒渁 multi-year health human resources campaign is underway to sustain recruitment momentum.SA国际影视传媒�

Savikataaq said he expects the issue to again be discussed during the next sitting of the legislative assembly later this month. 

SA国际影视传媒淚t's something that is needed. Right now, within Nunavut, the Department of Health would not be able to provide adequate care without the use of agency nurses, but there has to be, at some point, less reliance on them.SA国际影视传媒�