nova scotia union head disputes local nurse departure numbers from montreal economic institute
4 minute read
nova scotia nurses union president janet hazelton.
francis campbell
/
the chronicle herald
the president of the nova scotia nurses union disputes a report by the montreal economic institute that shows a high number of nurses left the profession in the province in 2023.
the institute, an independent public policy think tank, said canada is burning through its young nurses at an alarming rate as health-care systems across the country struggle to retain them. its numbers showed that in 2023, nova scotia had 57 nurses under the age of 35 leave for every 100 nurses who entered the profession, a 23 per cent increase over 2014.
janet hazelton, president of the province’s nurses union, said the numbers “don’t jibe from our experience.”
“that’s 50 per cent and that’s inaccurate,” said hazelton on thursday. “i’m not sure what the motivation is (for the report), but we have no proof that that is the case. in fact, our members are up. i’m not sure where or how they would get that information.”
hazelton said that in the under-35 age category, the province saw an overall net gain of 394 registered nurses and an additional 94 registered nurse licence renewals in 2023.
mei says union misinterpreted report
the montreal economic institute studied the supply of nurses in 2023 and 2024. the analysis is from the most recent data from the canadian institute for health information, according to its publication.
advertisement
samantha dagres, communications manager at the institute, said hazelton is misinterpreting the numbers in the publication.
“mei’s recent analysis does not claim that half of all young nurses quit in 2023,” said dagres in an email. “our team did not release a percentage, but rather examined the ratio between inflow and outflow of young nurses. we found that for every 100 nurses under 35 who registered to practise in nova scotia, 57 did not renew.
“we would like to highlight that our report relies on data from the canadian institute for health information (cihi). if ms. hazelton and the nova scotia nurses union question the accuracy of cihi’s figures, we urge the union to get in contact with them.
“nova scotia’s numbers show that simply training more nurses won’t solve the problem. without better working conditions and flexibility, it’s like filling a leaky bucket.”
dagres said the publication’s goal was to support nurses.
“we wish the union had reached out to us with questions instead of misinterpreting our report. at the end of the day, we all want the same thing: to ensure nurses are supported through better flexibility, reduced burnout, and a healthier work–life balance.”
it stated that nursing job vacancies tripled in just five years across canada, jumping from 13,178 in 2018 to 41,716 in 2023.
advertisement
the institute cited a canadian federation of nurses unions 2025 survey that showed over one-third of nurses reported having worked involuntary overtime in the past six months, six in 10 experienced some form of violence or abuse at work, and one in four show clinical signs of anxiety, depression or burnout.
“for every 100 nurses under 35 who registered to practise in the country, 40 other young nurses did not renew their registration in 2023,” said dagres. “this growing exodus is worsening the shortage of health-care workers and putting even more pressure on our already strained system.”
nova scotia working on meeting demand
hazelton said the province is still attempting to meet nursing demand.
data from the nova scotia college of nursing showed that as of october 2024, there were about 23,000 licensed practical nurses, registered nurses and nurse practitioners. of the 23,000, there are 12,044 licensed registered nurses, 4,763 licensed practical nurses and 406 nurse practitioners working in the province.
for the 2024-25 fiscal year, nova scotia health onboarded 993 registered nurses.
“we still have a shortage, absolutely, but it’s not 50 per cent of our nurses,” hazelton said. “our nursing force has diversified. there are more nurses in the community now. there are more nurses doing occupational safety and more nurses teaching. nursing is not just at the bedside anymore; it has diversified and given more opportunities. but our net shortage is significant for (registered nurses). it’s still over a thousand.”
advertisement
hazelton said work is ongoing to close the gap.
nursing seats in educational institutions have gone up. based on 2023 data, dalhousie university, acadia university, cape breton university and nova scotia community college have about 575 first-year licensed practical nursing spots (nscc) and 620 first-year bachelor of science nursing seats.
“we are trying,” she said. “the government has increased seats, but when you increase seats, it costs a lot of money. for every four years, it’s about $100,000. so 10 nurses are a million more dollars. there is nothing that you can do about the fact that it takes four years to educate an rn. it’s two years for (a licensed practical nurse).”
hazelton said nursing is a competitive business and the province is doing what it can to help keep talent in nova scotia.
“the province absolutely wants to do something for the shortage,” she said. “they want to see good health care for nova scotians. when there is a shortage, there’s always the threat that you are going to lose nurses to other provinces. it’s very competitive. you have to make sure you are paying them a really good salary. all of that plays into the shortage.
“it’s in everybody’s interest, nova scotians, the nurses union and the government, to make sure this shortage is dealt with.”
share story
