Canada’s overworked healthcare sector braces for staff shortages as vaccine mandates loom

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VANCOUVER – Canada’s health and long-term care industries are bracing for staff shortages and layoffs as deadlines for vaccine mandates loom across the country, and unions lobby federal and provincial governments to soften hard-line positions.

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For hospitals and nursing homes, the worker shortage would put pressure on the already overburdened workforce facing nearly two years of the pandemic. The uncertainty caused by vaccine mandates underscores the challenges on the road to recovery.

Devon Greyson, an assistant professor of public health at the University of British Columbia, said officials are heading into uncharted waters with mass vaccination mandates, and it’s unclear how workers will respond.

“The worker shortage can mean people’s health and well-being. It’s scary, ”Greyson said.

However, he added, “we are in an ethical situation in which it is also scary not to ensure that all health workers are vaccinated. So it’s a bit of a catch-22 “.

To address staff shortages, at least one province offers signing bonuses to nurses. Provinces like Quebec and British Columbia have made it mandatory for healthcare workers and nurses to be vaccinated to continue working in their respective fields.

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also unveiled one of the world’s strictest vaccine mandates last week, saying unvaccinated federal employees will be sent on leave without pay and making COVID-19 injections mandatory for air, rail and sea passengers.

Layoffs have started to hit, and a hospital in southern Ontario last week laid off 57 employees, representing 2.5% of staff, after its vaccines mandate went into effect. A long-term care home in Toronto put 36% of its staff on unpaid leave after they refused to get vaccinated, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

British Columbia will place staff in its long-term care and assisted living sector on administrative leave without pay if they don’t get at least one opportunity by Monday.

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About 97% of long-term care staff in Vancouver and surrounding areas have at least one dose as of Oct. 6, the province said. But northern British Columbia has only 89% of staff with at least one dose, although the data was still being updated.

The province recently changed the deadline, allowing more time for people to receive their second dose of the vaccine. “It’s because we know we have a very limited health care resource,” said Dr. Bonnie Henry, the province’s medical officer.

Quebec offers $ 15,000 bonuses to help attract and retain around 4,300 full-time nurses. Some 25,000 health workers who are not yet fully vaccinated before the October 15 deadline are at risk of being suspended without pay, said Christian Dubé, the province’s health minister.

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About 97% of all staff at the University Health Network, which operates medical facilities in and around Toronto, have been vaccinated by Oct. 22, and efforts are underway to find support for the rest.

Daniel Lublin, a Toronto-based labor attorney, called the mandates “very political” and relied on the majority opinion that vaccines are good. “The consequence is that it is another segment of the Canadian workforce that will face job loss if they decide not to get vaccinated.”

The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), which represents 215,000 federal workers, said that while the union supports the government’s vaccination stance, its members who don’t get vaccinated should not be punished.

“Especially when remote work options are available that do not endanger the health and safety of co-workers and allow our members to continue serving Canadians,” said Chris Aylward, PSAC president.

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The Treasury Board, which oversees public administration, is engaged with the PSAC and other labor representatives on the implementation of the mandate, a government source said.

Louis Hugo Francescutti, an emergency room physician in Edmonton, said he worked with several people who continued to refuse to get vaccinated, even though it would cost them their jobs when the mandate takes effect Oct. 31.

Alberta has one of the lowest vaccination rates in Canada and its hospitals have been overwhelmed by the fourth wave.

“We are so underwater right now that losing a couple of people who don’t want to get vaccinated will be sad (but) the impact will be minimal,” Francescutti said.