VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, April 2, 2007 - The Honourable Monte Solberg, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development today announced that Canada's New Government will invest $2,864,481 in a project, Preparing a Nursing Workforce to Advance Health Services, to address the critical nursing shortage in Canada's health sector.
"Canada's New Government is taking concrete steps to address nursing shortages," said Minister Solberg. "By investing $2.8 million in this project to recruit and retain nurses, we are ensuring Canada's health care system stays ahead of the curve to provide care to patients in need, when they need it."
Led by the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, and in partnership with Fraser Health, the Nurses Bargaining Association, the University of British Columbia (UBC) and the University of Victoria (UVic), and funded by the governments of Canada and British Columbia, this project will prepare, recruit and retain quality nurses, address the critical nursing shortage and improve the quality of nursing educators through the Career Laddering Model. The model will be shared with other health authorities and jurisdictions across Canada.
"The British Columbia government has already created 20 new nursing programs at post-secondary institutions across the province to educate the nurses that we will need in the future," said the Honourable Murray Coell, British Columbia's Advanced Education Minister. "Now, over the next two years, we're investing nearly half a million dollars in 40 spaces for nursing students to earn their master's degrees at UVic and UBC, which will prepare them to teach the next generation of nurses."
The project will use innovative strategies and collaborative partnerships among employers, unions and academic nursing programs, and will receive federal government funding through the Workplace Skills Initiative (WSI).
The Initiative is designed to fund projects that mobilize and transform Canadian workplaces to meet both present and future challenges. The program promotes and tests promising approaches to skills development and improved human resources practices for employed Canadians, encourages employers to invest in the skills of their employees, and informs on Government of Canada labour market policy and programming. WSI funded projects support increased collaboration toward the development of models and instruments for workplace skills. A second call for proposals for WSI has just been launched.
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For more information (media only):
Ms. Lesley Harmer
Director of Communications
Monte Solberg's Office
819-994-2482
Media Relations Office
Human Resources and Social Development Canada
819-994-5559
