Quebec Halts Recruitment of Moroccan Nurses Amid Ethical Concerns

Recruitment is ceasing in all African countries, except Tunisia for ethical reasons, learns Radio-Canada, specifying that Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire and Morocco are no longer among Quebec’s recruitment destinations. Souriya Otmani, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to Canada, expresses her satisfaction: "In acting in this way, it seems to me that Quebec has truly made a thoughtful, just, ethical and equitable decision." This decision will have a positive impact on public hospitals in Morocco. While "clinics are being built, equipped, but cannot function because of the lack of medical and nursing staff. The lives of thousands of people are literally at stake," "the nurses of Morocco [...] leave their country by hundreds, even thousands every year, to go to Canada, Europe or the Arab countries," explains the Moroccan diplomat.

"This is exactly the kind of action and reflection we hope to see from countries as they move towards what we call ethical recruitment," comments Lisa Little, First Vice President of the International Council of Nurses, noting that the first step is not to recruit in countries on the WHO’s safeguard list, including Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire. "We have to stop recruiting in the 55 countries [on the list] of which 37 are in Africa. According to her, other Canadian provinces should also stop recruiting nurses from the Philippines.

Countries like Morocco have put pressure on Quebec to stop recruiting their nurses. "Morocco has asked to exclude state nurses from our recruitment activities from the second quarter of 2024, a directive we have complied with. Some African countries have asked us to limit hiring there in 2024, a request we have also complied with," confirms by email a spokesperson for the Ministry of Immigration, Francization and Integration (MIFI). She will add: "For other countries, it is Quebec that has unilaterally decided to limit or stop recruitment in order not to expose the local population to health risks, despite the high unemployment rate observed in the health sector in these same countries."

Over the past two years, Quebec has recruited around 1,000 nurses in Africa, particularly in Cameroon, Morocco and Côte d’Ivoire, and intends to recruit an additional 235 candidates abroad to meet its labor needs as part of the successful $65 million program.