Job fair aims to recruit current, future healthcare workers

In a few years, Ontario will be short an estimated 33,000 nurses and personal support workers as the province deals with a shortage of all kinds of healthcare workers. Today, at Canada’s premier recruitment event for the sector, institutions from home and abroad were hoping to match eager job seekers and fill some openings that are much needed at this time.

“We have a lot of job seekers that are here, perhaps they’re looking for new opportunities, some are looking for an adventure, they might be looking to go abroad for a couple of years,” said Erin Flynn, regional director of events at HealthSector Talent. “There are some new grads as well, so they’re coming from every aspect and every level of their career.”

Dubbed the only event of its kind in Eastern Canada, the healthcare job fair came to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on Saturday. Employers spoke about positions in all sectors, from medical and nursing to allied health and support. Hospitals across the GTA also attended, looking to fill critical roles.

“Nursing, both registered nurses and registered practical nurses,” said Sidiqah Tseung with Sunnybrook Health Sciences. “Everything from healthcare professionals to administrative roles to even our research institute.”

Healthcare recruiting event in Toronto. CIYNEWS

With Bill 124 capping wage increases at one per cent for Ontario public sector workers, some hospitals outside the province were also looking to attract local talent, in part by removing obstacles to being certified in another region.

“If Ontario may not have that specific job that an applicant is looking for, we want to broaden the horizon, because again, we know that healthcare demands are being affected province to province,” said Kimberly Strach with Covenant Health in Alberta.

The latest numbers from Stats Canada show that in the fourth quarter of 2022, there were 147,300 job vacancies in health occupations nationwide. Hospitals south of the border dealing with their own staff shortages were hoping Canadians might want a change.

“A nurse anywhere has one main key feature that is shared amongst all the nurses and that is willingness to care,” said Jennifer Hopkins, a nurse at Texas Children’s Hospital.

Healthcare recruiting event in Toronto. CITYNEWS

Even organizations from Down Under were looking to entice workers that might want a new adventure.

“We just wanting to see if there was an opportunity with anyone that was looking at immigrating, whether if it’s just for a 12-month holiday or for a couple of years to come and work in Australia,” said Lisa Cox, chief nursing and midwifery officer at Northern Health based in Victoria, Australia.

Despite widespread reports of healthcare workers suffering from pandemic burnout many attending the event were still looking to enter the industry, with several people saying being a healthcare worker is their passion and that even if COVID-19 returned, they would never give up doing what they love. For job seekers who could not attend the event, a full list of hiring employers can be found at healthcarejobfair.com.