Quebec: 37 nurses below the age of 35 left the workforce for every 100 new nurses that started in 2023, finds new MEI report

• Across Canada, 40 nurses under 35 leave the workforce for every 100 who enter it.

Montreal, October 22, 2025 – Canada is burning through its young nurses at an alarming rate as healthcare systems across the country struggle to retain them, reveals a new publication released this morning by the MEI.

“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 Emmanuelle B. Faubert, economist at the MEI and author of the report. “This growing exodus is worsening the shortage of health care workers and putting even more pressure on our already strained system.”

Nursing job vacancies have tripled in just five years across Canada, jumping from 13,178 in 2018 to 41,716 in 2023.

In Quebec, 37 nurses under 35 chose not to renew their licence to practise for every 100 who entered the workforce in 2023. This is a slight decrease from the 40 exits per 100 entrants observed a decade earlier.

According to the report, this is partially attributable to the province’s mutual recognition arrangement with France, which makes it faster and easier for French nurses to find work in Quebec, increasing the total inflow of nurses.

“While Quebec has seen a modest improvement in the ratio of nurses leaving the workforce in the past decade, it’s clear that this is not enough,” says Ms. Faubert. “No province should be satisfied with losing over one-in-three young nurses for every nurse that starts.”

The researcher points out that one way Quebec could improve retention would be to simplify the process foreign nurses must undergo to obtain credentials. Under the current system, many foreign nurse candidates are not informed beforehand of the cost or duration of the training program.

She also warns of the risk of banning agency nurses from the province, pointing to increased employment flexibility as key to keeping young nurses in the workforce.

“Unlike what the Legault government has been pushing, nurse agencies have been key in keeping more young nurses motivated,” adds Ms. Faubert. “The flexibility they provide can help them stay in the workforce, especially when they’ve been burnt-out by the chronic overtime in the government-run system.”

Quebec’s decision to end the use of agency nurses removed 3.7 million hours of work from the healthcare system over a five-month period, the equivalent of 4,400 full-time nursing positions.

British Columbia stands out as a beacon of improvement, having cut the turnover of young nurses by 50 per cent since 2014. Nearly 93 per cent of nurses trained in the province are now registered to practise there.

Since 2022, the BC College of Nurses and Midwives has streamlined the accreditation process for internationally educated nurses by introducing a “triple-track” application that covers registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, and healthcare assistant designations.

“Flexibility is key,” notes Ms. Faubert. “Nurses are the backbone of our health care system and thus, we need to ensure that the system works for them, not against them.”

According to the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions’ 2025 survey:

• Over one third of nurses reported having worked involuntary overtime in the past six months
• Six in ten experienced some form of violence or abuse at work in the past year
• One in four show clinical signs of anxiety, depression, or burnout

The MEI researcher urges provinces to look to British Columbia’s shift-swapping pools, which allow nurses to trade shifts without administrative approval, as a model to emulate.

Other promising solutions include allowing nurses greater freedom to work for private clinics, travel nurse agencies, or telehealth companies, enabling them to better manage their schedules and realize a healthier work-life balance.

“Burning through our young nurses today means having no nurses for tomorrow,” says Ms. Faubert. “Protecting our healthcare system requires letting go of the government monopoly in order to offer nurses the working conditions they deserve.”

You can read the Economic Note here.

Tailored provincial media releases can be found here: Alberta / British Columbia / Manitoba / New Brunswick / Newfoundland and Labrador / Nova Scotia / Ontario / Prince Edward Island / Saskatchewan.

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The MEI is an independent public policy think tank with offices in Montreal, Ottawa, and Calgary. Through its publications, media appearances, and advisory services to policymakers, the MEI stimulates public policy debate and reforms based on sound economics and entrepreneurship.

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