U.S. nurses select Canada over the U.S. underneath Trump : NPR

[ad_1] <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3024x2017+0+662/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F3b%2F05%2F96c23d0e42b0b9f621cbee62a7a3%2Fnanaimo.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3024x2017+0+662/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F3b%2F05%2F96c23d0e42b0b9f621cbee62a7a3%2Fnanaimo.jpg" class="img" alt="Nurses Brandy Frye (left) and Susan Fleishman work the night shift at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital in British Columbia. Both said they left their longtime U.S. jobs last year to get away from the policies and hateful rhetoric of President Trump." fetchpriority="high"/> Nurses Brandy Frye (left) and Susan Fleishman work the evening shift at Nanaimo Regional Basic Hospital in British Columbia. Each mentioned they left their longtime U.S. jobs final yr to get away from the insurance policies and hateful rhetoric of President Trump. Taylor Pradine/KFF Well being Information conceal caption

toggle caption

Taylor Pradine/KFF Well being Information Final month, Justin and Amy Miller packed their automobiles with three youngsters, two canines, a pet bearded dragon, and no matter belongings they might match, then drove 2,000 miles from Wisconsin to British Columbia to depart President Trump's America.

The Millers resettled on Vancouver Island, their scenic refuge accessible solely by ferry or aircraft. Justin went to work within the emergency room at Nanaimo Regional Basic Hospital, the place he grew to become one in all at the very least 20 U.S.-trained nurses employed since April.

Trump, among the nurses mentioned, was why they left.

"There are such a lot of like-minded folks on the market," mentioned Justin, who now works elbow to elbow with People in Canada. "You are not trapped. You do not have to remain. Well being care staff are welcomed with open arms around the globe."

The Millers are a part of a brand new surge of American nurses, docs, and different well being care staff transferring to Canada, and particularly British Columbia, the place greater than 1,000 U.S.-trained nurses have been authorised to work since April.

Many nurses have felt the draw of Canada's progressive politics, pleasant status, and common well being care system, which stands in distinction to what they see as authoritarian insurance policies underneath Trump together with deep cuts to funding for public well being, insurance coverage, and medical analysis.

Moreover, some nurses have been incensed final yr when the Trump administration mentioned it might reclassify nursing as a nonprofessional diploma, which might impose strict federal limits on the loans nursing college students might obtain.

Canada is poised to capitalize. Two of its most populous provinces, Ontario and British Columbia, have streamlined the licensing course of for American nurses since Trump returned to the White Home. British Columbia additionally launched a $5 million promoting marketing campaign final yr to recruit nurses from California, Oregon, and Washington state.

"With the chaos and uncertainty occurring within the U.S., we're seizing the chance to draw the expertise we want," Josie Osborne, the province's well being minister, mentioned in a press release saying the marketing campaign.

Fears realized Amy Miller, a nurse practitioner, mentioned she and her husband have been decided to maneuver their kids in a foreign country as a result of they felt Trump's second time period would inevitably spiral into violence.

First, the Millers received nursing licenses in New Zealand, however when the job search took too lengthy, they pivoted to Canada.

Justin was provided a job inside weeks.

Amy discovered one inside three months.

In order that they moved. And only a few days later, the Millers watched with horror from afar as their fears got here true.

As federal immigration forces clashed with protesters in Minneapolis on Jan. 24, federal brokers fatally shot an ICU nurse, Alex Pretti, as he filmed a confrontation and gave the impression to be attempting to defend a lady who was knocked down. Video of the killing confirmed border brokers pinning Pretti to the bottom earlier than seizing his hid, licensed handgun after which opening hearth on him.

The Trump administration rapidly referred to as Pretti a "home terrorist" who supposed to kill federal brokers. That allegation was disputed by eyewitness movies that circulated on social media and spurred widespread outrage, together with from nurses and nursing organizations, a few of whom invoked the career's responsibility to take care of the susceptible.

"I do not wish to say it was anticipated, however that is why we're right here," Amy Miller mentioned. "Even our oldest child, she was like: 'It is OK, Mother, as a result of we're not there anymore. We're protected right here.' So she acknowledges that, and she or he's not even in center faculty but."

Each the U.S. and Canada have a extreme want for nurses. The U.S. is projected to be quick about 270,000 registered nurses, plus at the very least 120,000 licensed sensible nurses, by 2028, in accordance with latest estimates from the Well being Sources and Providers Administration. In Canada, nursing job vacancies tripled from 2018 to 2023, after they reached almost 42,000, in accordance with a latest report from the Montreal Financial Institute, a Canadian assume tank.

When requested to remark, the White Home famous that business knowledge reveals the variety of nurses licensed within the U.S. elevated in 2025. It dismissed accounts of nurses transferring to Canada as "anecdotes of people with extreme instances of Trump derangement syndrome."

"The American well being care workforce is the best on the planet, and it continues to broaden underneath President Trump," White Home spokesperson Kush Desai mentioned. "Employment alternatives within the American well being care system stay sturdy, with profession development and pay that far exceed that of different developed nations."

'A way of reduction' It's unknown exactly what number of American nurses have moved north since Trump returned to workplace, as a result of some Canadian provinces don't monitor or launch such statistics.

British Columbia, which has accomplished essentially the most to recruit People, authorised the licensing functions of 1,028 U.S.-trained nurses from when the province's streamlined utility course of took impact in April 2025 by means of January, in accordance with the British Columbia School of Nurses and Midwives. In all of 2023 solely 112 candidates from the U.S. have been authorised, the company mentioned. In 2024, it was 127.

Elevated curiosity from American nurses was additionally confirmed by nursing associations in Ontario and Alberta, in addition to by the nationwide Canadian Nurses Affiliation.

Angela Wignall, CEO of Nurses and Nurse Practitioners of British Columbia, mentioned American nurses used to maneuver north as a result of that they had fallen in love with Canada (or a Canadian). However extra just lately, she mentioned, she had met nurses who feared the White Home would spur violence and vigilantism, notably in opposition to households that included same-sex {couples}.

"A few of them have been dwelling in worry of the administration, and so they shared a way of reduction when crossing the border," Wignall mentioned. "As a Canadian, it is heartbreaking. And in addition a pleasure to welcome them."

Vancouver Island, which has a inhabitants of about 860,000, has gained 64 U.S.-trained nurses since April, together with these at Nanaimo Regional, mentioned Andrew Leyne, a spokesperson for the island's well being company.

One of many nurses was Susan Fleishman, a Canadian who moved to the U.S. as a toddler, then labored for 23 years in American emergency rooms earlier than leaving the nation in November.

Fleishman mentioned hateful rhetoric from Trump has fueled an indignant division that has permeated and soured American life.

"It wasn't a straightforward transfer — that is for positive. However I believe it is undoubtedly price it," she mentioned, fortunately again in Canada. "I discover there may be much more kindness right here. And I believe that may preserve me right here."

Brandy Frye, an American nurse who additionally labored for many years in ERs, mentioned she moved to Vancouver Island final yr after ready to see whether or not Mark Carney would grow to be Canada's prime minister. Carney's rise was broadly seen as a rejection of Trumpism.

In the meantime, Frye mentioned, the California hospital the place she labored had been stripping phrases related to range and fairness out of its paperwork to appease the Trump administration. She could not stand it.

"It felt like a step in opposition to every little thing I consider in," Frye mentioned. "And I did not really feel like I belonged there anymore."

Like most of the American nurses who've moved to Vancouver Island, Frye was first wooed to the world by a viral video that was meant to draw vacationer {dollars} however ended up doing far more.

A couple of yr in the past, Tod Maffin, a social media content material creator and former CBC Radio host, invited People to the port metropolis of Nanaimo for a weekend occasion designed to offset the influence of Trump's tariffs on the native financial system.

Maffin mentioned about 350 folks attended the April occasion.

"Quite a lot of them have been well being care staff in search of an escape route," Maffin mentioned. "They have been there to assist help our financial system but additionally to look into Canada."

Maffin noticed a chance. He repurposed the occasion web site right into a recruiting device and launched a Discord chatroom to assist People relocate.

Maffin mentioned he believes the marketing campaign helped about 35 well being care staff transfer to Vancouver Island. Volunteers in additional than 30 different Canadian communities have since duplicated his web site in an effort to draw their very own American nurses and docs.

"There are communities throughout Canada the place the emergency room closes at evening as a result of one nurse is out. That is how skinny staffing is," Maffin mentioned.

"One new nurse in a small city, or in a midsized metropolis like Nanaimo," he mentioned, "makes a distinction."

KFF Well being Information is a nationwide newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about well being points and is likely one of the core working applications at KFF.