Can these YouTube videos create a flood of medical professionals to B.C.?

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The provincial government is hoping to turn a trickle northward into a torrent.

A new targeted advertising campaign has been launched in three Western U.S. states—Washington, Oregon and California—aimed at luring more doctors and nurses to B.C., to help combat the shortage of medical personnel in the province.

There had been a steady stream of doctors and nurses moving north since the U.S. election in November. In April, the province streamlined its credential recognition process with American professionals, resulting a 127 per cent leap in applications from U.S. trained nurses. It cut the time nurses can be registered from an average of four months to just a few days.

The new marketing campaign urges the health professionals to “follow their hearts” and move to B.C., and is operating under a highly targeted strategy.

The advertisements will hit 14,000 digital screen locations within a 16-kilometre radius of health care facilities in those states, across video, social, audio and print platforms. The target areas in select cities also include restaurants, grocery stores, ride-share screens and outdoor placements, such as digital billboards, transit shelters and urban panels.

The six-week long campaign is projected to reach nearly 80 per cent of health care professionals in those target areas.

“Our message to U.S. doctors, nurses and allied health workers is strong and clear — there has never been a better time to come to British Columbia, and for Canadian health professionals currently living and working in the U.S., now is the time to come home,” said Minister of Health Josie Osborne. “With the chaos and uncertainty happening in the U.S., we are seizing the opportunity to attract the talent we need to join and strengthen our public, universal health care system in British Columbia.”

Since the change in the U.S. administration, one report from the Medical Council of Canada reported a 750 per cent spike in a seven-month period of American doctors registering for a Canadian licence. In B.C. specifically, since the launch of its recruitment campaign, the province has reported nearly 1,600 medical professionals who have inquired about the move, including 704 doctors and 525 nurses.

A budget that passed through the U.S. Congress included cuts that would eviscerate medical services in the states, including a near-40 per cent cut of almost US$18 billion to the National Institutes of Health. Science and medicine have been under incredible ideological and financial pressure since the change in presidential administrations.

In B.C., the provincial government is highlighting its pro-medicine and science stance. The new campaign also helps tailor support and guidance for those who start the process in moving north, and highlight the areas where help is most urgently needed, such as cancer care, emergency departments and rural communities facing severe health care worker shortages.

“American health care professionals are increasingly drawn to B.C. as a place that supports science, protects reproductive rights and takes care of people no matter how much money they have in their bank account,”  said Premier David Eby. “That’s why I’m delighted to see that our new, fast-tracked credential recognition has cut registration time from months to just days and is bringing in new U.S. nurses to strengthen our public health system and deliver better care for British Columbians, faster.”

This article was originally published in the Vancouver Sun on June 7, 2025.