b'IMMIGRATIONHow rural and remote regions in Canada areactively seeking to attract an international workforceFROM THE GROUND UPBy Sarah B. HoodI n January 2015, Nova Scotia lostsupports for physicians arriving from otherAnother notable one is the City of about 40 physicians when changescountries, including a relocation allowanceMorden, Manitoba, located near the U.S. to the provincial Medical Act alteredof up to $10,000; a tuition reimbursementborder about 130 kilometres southwest the provinces licence categories.of up to $120,000; a return-of-serviceof Winnipeg. With a consistently low This marked quite a challenge forbursary of up to $60,000 for establishingunemployment rate, Morden was at risk a place already battling a shortage ofa practice in Nova Scotia for a three-yearof losing major employers to the U.S. So medical professionals.period in an agreed-upon location; a debtin 2012, it launched a program to attract The province responded by approvingassistance plan of up to $45,000, and anew immigrants, in partnership with the the Nova Scotia Practice ReadyProvincial Locum Program that providesManitoba Provincial Nominee Program.Assessment Program (NSPRAP), whichmedical care for patients of physicians inInitially, Morden piggybacked on an assesses the qualifications of internationalrural communities while they are away foroutreach trip to Eastern Europe organ-medical graduates wishing to relocateillness, vacation or educational purposes.ized by the Provincial Nominee Program. to Nova Scotia. In 2019, the first 10There are numerous similar examplesSince then, the program has been able international medical graduates assessedacross Canada of efforts to recruit inter- to operate on mostly buzz, says Shelly through the NSPRAP will be setting upnationally to fill specific types of job vacan- Voth, Mordens immigration co-ordinator. family practices. cies at the local level, or simply to replenishVoth estimates that right now, were As part of this initiative, the Nova Scotiaa shrinking proportion of working-agepicking about five per cent of our appli-cants. Were able to pick fantastic people Health Authority offers numerousresidents in remote or rural areas.just from the applications we have.Welders, cooks, machine operators, early childhood educators, carpenters, painters A group of recent newcomers from six differentand accountants have been among countries that have settled in Morden, Manitoba the positions filled so far. Voth utilizes Instagram and Facebook to get the message out, and web postings are quickly picked up on community sites like the Russian-language RusForum. Besides Eastern European applicants, Morden is attracting increasing interest from the Philippines, India, Pakistan, Brazil and Dubai.One of the programs greatest challengesand successesis retaining the talent theyre able to bring to the city.Because our program is entirely Morden taxpayer-funded, its important that we keep most of the people, Voth says, adding that they do. Our retention rate is in the high 80 per cent. Voth attributes this success to a robust settlement program that incudes a cordial exploratory visit, a Facebook group for newcomers, and transition apartment rentals for the first few months. After such a thorough and friendly orienta-tion, when the people arrive, they feel like theyre coming home to something, Voth stresses.28PERSPECTIVES Fall 2019'