According to a new report, Quebec is losing young nurses faster than it can replace them, with 37 nurses under 35 leaving the workforce for every 100 who started in 2023.
The Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) says the province’s nurse shortage shows no signs of easing, even though the numbers are slightly better than a decade ago, when 40 young nurses left for every 100 who started.
“This exodus is worsening the shortage of health-care workers and putting even more pressure on an already strained system,” said Emmanuelle B. Faubert, an economist at MEI.
The study points to long hours, burnout and red tape as major reasons nurses are walking away.
According to a 2025 survey by the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions, working conditions are taking a serious toll on nurses’ mental health and morale.
The survey found that more than one-third of nurses had worked involuntary overtime in the past six months, six in 10 had faced violence or abuse on the job in the past year, and one in four showed clinical signs of anxiety, depression or burnout.
“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,” said Faubert.
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“No province should be satisfied with losing over one-in-three young nurses for every nurse that starts.”
While Quebec’s agreement with France has helped attract more international recruits, Faubert says the province still makes it too hard for foreign nurses to get licensed.
Faubert also took aim at Legault government’s decision to ban private nurse agencies, arguing the move has backfired.
The report estimates the ban removed 3.7 million hours of work from the system in just five months or the equivalent of 4,400 full-time nursing jobs.
“Nurse agencies have been key in keeping more young nurses motivated,” Faubert said. “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.”
Registered nurses aren’t the only health-care workers feeling dissatisfied with their jobs.
Aliya Hajee, a nurse practitioner in Ontario and CEO and founder of NP Circle, an organization that supports nurse practitioners (NPs) in Canada, says NPs are in a similar situation.
“These findings align with what we’re hearing from nurse practitioners as well. In our recent national community survey of nearly 700 NPs, 49% reported burnout, 55% cited unsustainable workloads, and 43% struggled with work-life balance,” she told Global News.
Hajee added that the current reality is not just frustration, it’s a crisis.
“Nurse practitioners have been stepping in to fill these gaps the past several years, but we’re doing much more with less,” she said.
“Greater flexibility and adequate support are essential to ensuring workforce sustainability across healthcare professions.”
However, some provinces are faring better.
British Columbia, for example, has cut young nurse turnover in half since 2014 by streamlining licensing for internationally trained nurses and giving them more control over their schedules.
On a national level, the MEI found 40 nurses under 35 leave the workforce for every 100 who join, as vacancies across Canada have almost tripled in five years.
“Burning through our young nurses today means having no nurses for tomorrow,” said Faubert.
Economists like Faubert are urging policy change to uplift nurses and keep them satisfied in the workforce. She 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.
“Protecting our health care system requires letting go of the government monopoly in order to offer nurses the working conditions they deserve.”
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