Canada’s health care system is struggling to hold on to young workers, with the number of nurses leaving the profession before they turn 35 up sharply in recent years, according to a report released by the Montreal Economic Institute.

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For every 100 nurses trained in the country who started working in the field in 2022, there were 40 who left the profession before their 35th birthday, the report released on Sept. 25 reveals. This means that in a single decade, the proportion of young nurses abandoning the system has gone up 25 per cent from 2013.

Some of the most commonly cited concerns by these nurses were a lack of control over their work schedules. Their principal sources of workplace stress include mandatory overtime and a lack of shift flexibility.

Other reasons nurses mentioned for leaving include insufficient remuneration, stressful work environments and problems with work-life balance, to mention a few.

The public policy think-tank’s report estimates that by 2030, Canada will have a shortage of 117,600 nurses.

“This exodus of young nurses has been worsening for the past decade, contributing to our health-care woes,” said Emmanuelle Faubert, the study’s co-author and an economist at the Montreal Economic Institute.

A survey from the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions in March provided a similar insight. That is, that throughout Canada, nurses below the age of 35 are more likely to leave their current job — or leave the profession altogether — than remain where they are.

The severity of the issue varies across Canada.

Manitoba lost less than one third of its young nurses in 2022, while many provinces’ ratios were closer to one half.

New Brunswick performed worst of all, losing eight young nurses for every 10 that entered the profession.

In Ontario, for every 100 young nurses who entered the field in 2022, 35.1 left the profession. This figure is 83 per cent higher than in 2013.

Faubert noted that Ontario used to be able to retain its nurses better than most provinces. Less than one in five young nurses were leaving the profession only a decade ago.

“Much like in the rest of the country, Ontario needs to find ways to bring back more flexibility in health care workplaces to help with retention,” she said.

Meanwhile, B.C.’s retention rate has improved over the past decade. It is now second to Manitoba, with 31.5 leaving for every 100 new entrants, down from 46.3.

The study said nurses who expressed a desire to quit their current position were also more likely to express interest in working for an independent nursing agency.

Independent agencies are considered a preferable alternative for those desiring better working conditions with more flexibility and better pay. This is often a final step before they leave nursing altogether.

Faubert said that governments need to work on giving young nurses more flexibility to make working for the healthcare system attractive to them once more, if they want to reduce their reliance on independent staff, which may cost more.

• Email: dpaglinawan@postmedia.com

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