Province pours millions into bridging programs for foreign trained nurses

Investing in nursing skills training

Alberta’s government is investing $11 million in nurse bridging programs for internationally educated nurses.

There is a growing need for health care professionals to help address current and future demand throughout the health care system. Alberta’s post-secondaries play an important role in ensuring there are enough qualified nurses when and where Albertans need them.

Through this funding, internationally educated nurses will have access to an additional 1,221 spaces at post-secondary institutions so they can complete the programs they need for certification in Alberta.

“Investing in more seats in bridging programs helps internationally educated nurses get to work in our communities and meet Alberta’s need for highly skilled and dedicated health care workers. Our post-secondary institutions are valued partners in meeting that need, both in their home communities and across the province.”

Rajan Sawhney, Minister of Advanced Education

This funding is enabling Alberta’s government to create 848 new registered nurse pathway seats and 373 new licensed practical nurse seats over three years to help nurses who were trained in other countries become licensed to practice nursing in Alberta. This builds on the more than 600 new seats for registered nurse and licensed practical nurse bridging programs announced in February.

“Adding additional seats for nurse bridging programs is a vital step towards addressing the growing demand for health care professionals in our province. Internationally educated nurses play a crucial role in meeting the health care needs of Albertans and this initiative will help them integrate more easily into communities across our province.”

Adriana LaGrange, Minister of Health

“Lethbridge will play a major role in this program, as it is uniquely positioned with two leading post-secondary institutions that will be connected to almost one-quarter of the new seats and will help open opportunities for nurses outside of Alberta’s major centres.”

Nathan Neudorf, MLA for Lethbridge-East

“The College of Registered Nurses of Alberta supports the announcement of the investment to create additional seats in bridging programs for internationally educated nurses. The college looks forward to seeing the impact this has on strengthening the health care ecosystem in Alberta.”

Joy Peacock, chief executive officer and registrar, College of Registered Nurses of Alberta (CRNA)

Alberta’s government is also investing $3 million for planning and design work at University Hall at the University of Lethbridge. Known for its award-winning design and being the first building built on campus, its former lab spaces will be modernized to better suit the needs of the growing university.

“Investments in initiatives that enhance Alberta’s health care system are of utmost importance. Access to a high-quality health care system not only promotes individual well-being but also plays a pivotal role in fortifying the resilience of Alberta’s communities.”

Digvir Jayas, president and vice-chancellor, University of Lethbridge

“We are always looking for innovative ways to enhance and expand program access for students. This is a great example of collaboration between the provincial government, the Lethbridge College and the University of Lethbridge.”

Brad Donaldson, president, Lethbridge College

Quick facts

The $11 million over the next three years will create 1,221 additional seats for nurse bridging programs at:

$2.4 million – University of Lethbridge/Lethbridge College: 100 seats
$2.6 million – Lethbridge College partnering with Bow Valley College: 108 seats
$0.5 million – Bow Valley College: 96 seats
$0.5 million – Northwestern Polytechnic: 96 seats
$0.5 million – Portage College: 96 seats
$0.5 million – Keyano College: 96 seats
$2.4 million – MacEwan University: 364 seats
$0.5 million – Keyano College partnering with NorQuest College: 40 seats
$0.6 million – Red Deer Polytechnic partnering with NorQuest College: 135 seats
$0.4 million – NorQuest College: 90 seats

Under Budget 2023, Alberta’s government is also investing $7.8 million annually to fund non-repayable financial assistance for internationally educated nurses.

Eligible internationally educated nurses can access as much as $30,000 over five years to offset the costs of nursing bridging programs, including tuition. The bursary is non-repayable for those who agree to live and work in rural Alberta as a nurse after graduation for a period of one year for every $6,000 in assistance provided.

Budget 2023 investments at University of Lethbridge:

Alberta’s government is investing $3 million in planning funding to improve the facility’s energy efficiency and operating sustainability.
The funding will support the next phase of the destination project to repurpose vacant buildings and will look for opportunities to minimize greenhouse gas emissions and maximize energy efficiency – all to better meet the needs of students in the future.

Budget 2023 invests:
- $1 million over three years to create 100 new seats in the bridge to Canadian nursing for internationally educated nurses program in collaboration with Lethbridge College.
- $0.6 million over three years to create 16 seats in the bachelor of nursing program in collaboration with Lethbridge College.
- $1.7 million over three years to create 40 new seats in the bachelor of science in computer science program.
- $0.3 million over three years to create 35 new seats in the graduate certificate in data science.
- Total: $3.6 million
Budget 2023 investments in southern Alberta (University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge College and Medicine Hat College):
- Targeted enrolment expansion: $3.9 million to create 169 new seats in high-demand programs
- Tech talent funding: $2.1 million to create 135 seats in high-demand technology programs
- Internationally educated nurses:
  - $2.4 million to create 100 new seats in a collaborative bridging program for internationally educated nurses at the University of Lethbridge and Lethbridge College.
  - $2.6 million to create 108 new seats in the Bow Valley College practical nurse diploma program at Lethbridge College.
- Apprenticeship funding: $2.7 million to support seats for apprentices
- Capital maintenance and renewal funding: $10.9 million to update campus facilities and improve student experiences
- Total: $24.6 million

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Alberta awash in corporate welfare

Published on July 26, 2024

Todayville

From the Fraser Institute

By Matthew Lau

To understand Ottawa’s negative impact on Alberta’s economy and living standards, juxtapose two recent pieces of data.

First, in July the Trudeau government made three separate “economic development” spending announcements in Alberta, totalling more than $80 million and affecting 37 different projects related to the “green economy,” clean technology and agriculture. And second, as noted in a new essay by Fraser Institute senior fellow Kenneth Green, inflation-adjusted business investment (excluding residential structures) in Canada’s extraction sector (mining, quarrying, oil and gas) fell 51.2 per cent from 2014 to 2022.

The productivity gains that raise living standards and improve economic conditions rely on business investment. But business investment in Canada has declined over the past decade and total economic growth per person (inflation-adjusted) from Q3-2015 through to Q1-2024 has been less than 1 per cent versus robust growth of nearly 16 per cent in the United States over the same period.

For Canada’s extraction sector, as Green documents, federal policies—new fuel regulations, extended review processes on major infrastructure projects, an effective ban on oil shipments on British Columbia’s northern coast, a hard greenhouse gas emissions cap targeting oil and gas, and other regulatory initiatives—are largely to blame for the massive decline in investment.

Meanwhile, as Ottawa impedes private investment, its latest bundle of economic development announcements underscores its strategy to have government take the lead in allocating economic resources, whether for infrastructure and public institutions or for corporate welfare to private companies.

Consider these federally-subsidized projects.

A gas cloud imaging company received $4.1 million from taxpayers to expand marketing, operations and product development. The Battery Metals Association of Canada received $850,000 to “support growth of the battery metals sector in Western Canada by enhancing collaboration and education stakeholders.” A food manufacturer in Lethbridge received $5.2 million to increase production of plant-based protein products. Ermineskin Cree Nation received nearly $400,000 for a feasibility study for a new solar farm. The Town of Coronation received almost $900,000 to renovate and retrofit two buildings into a business incubator. The Petroleum Technology Alliance Canada received $400,000 for marketing and other support to help boost clean technology product exports. And so on.

When the Trudeau government announced all this corporate welfare and spending, it naturally claimed it create economic growth and good jobs. But corporate welfare doesn’t create growth and good jobs, it only directs resources (including labour) to subsidized sectors and businesses and away from sectors and businesses that must be more heavily taxed to support the subsidies. The effect of government initiatives that reduce private investment and replace it with government spending is a net economic loss.

As 20th-century business and economics journalist Henry Hazlitt put it, the case for government directing investment (instead of the private sector) relies on politicians and bureaucrats—who did not earn the money and to whom the money does not belong—investing that money wisely and with almost perfect foresight. Of course, that’s preposterous.

Alas, this replacement of private-sector investment with public spending is happening not only in Alberta but across Canada today due to the Trudeau government’s fiscal policies. Lower productivity and lower living standards, the data show, are the unhappy results.

Author:

Matthew Lau

Adjunct Scholar, Fraser Institute

Alberta

‘Fireworks’ As Defence Opens Case In Coutts Two Trial

Published on July 25, 2024

Todayville

From the Frontier Centre for Public Policy

By Ray McGinnis

Anthony Olienick and Chris Carbert are on trial for conspiracy to commit murder and firearms charges in relation to the Coutts Blockade into mid-February 2022. In opening her case before a Lethbridge, AB, jury on July 11, Olienick’s lawyer, Marilyn Burns stated “This is a political, criminal trial that is un Canadian.” She told the jury, “You will be shocked, and at the very least, disappointed with how Canada’s own RCMP conducted themselves during and after the Coutts protest,” as she summarized officers’ testimony during presentation of the Crown’s case. Burns also contended that “the conduct of Alberta’s provincial government and Canada’s federal government are entwined with the RCMP.” The arrests of the Coutts Four on the night of February 13 and noon hour of February 14, were key events in a decision by the Clerk of the Privy Council, Janice Charette, and the National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister, Jody Thomas, to advise Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to invoke the Emergencies Act. Chief Justice Paul Rouleau, in submitting his Public Order Emergency Commission Report to Parliament on February 17, 2023, also cited events at the Coutts Blockade as key to his conclusion that the government was justified in invoking the Emergencies Act.

Justice David Labrenz cautioned attorney Burns regarding her language, after Crown prosecutor Stephen Johnson objected to some of the language in the opening statement of Olienick’s counsel. Futher discussion about the appropriateness of attorney Burns’ statement to the jury is behind a publication ban, as discussions occurred without the jury present.

Justice Labrenz told the jury on July 12, “I would remind you that the presumption of innocence means that both the accused are cloaked with that presumption, unless the Crown proves beyond a reasonable doubt the essential elements of the charge(s).” He further clarified what should result if the jurors were uncertain about which narrative to believe: the account by the Crown, or the account from the accused lawyers. Labrenz stated that such ambivalence must lead to an acquittal; As such a degree of uncertainty regarding which case to trust in does not meet the “beyond a reasonable doubt” threshold for a conviction.”

On July 15, 2024, a Lethbridge jury heard evidence from a former employer of Olienicks’ named Brian Lambert. He stated that he had tasked Olienick run his sandstone quarry and mining business. He was a business partner with Olienick. In that capacity, Olienick made use of what Lambert referred to as “little firecrackers,” to quarry the sandstone and reduce it in size. Reducing the size of the stone renders it manageable to get refined and repurposed so it could be sold to buyers of stone for other uses (building construction, patio stones, etc.) Lambert explained that the “firecrackers” were “explosive devices” packaged within tubing and pipes that could also be used for plumbing. He detailed how “You make them out of ordinary plumbing pipe and use some kind of propellant like shotgun powder…” Lambert explained that the length of the pipe “…depended on how big a hole or how large a piece of stone you were going to crack. The one I saw was about six inches long … maybe an inch in diameter.”

One of Olienick’s charges is “unlawful possession of an explosive device for a dangerous purpose.” The principal evidence offered up by RCMP to the Crown is what the officers depicted as “pipe bombs” which they obtained at the residence of Anthony Olienick in Claresholm, Alberta, about a two-hour drive from Coutts. Officers entered his home after he was arrested the night of February 13, 2022. Lambert’s testimony offers a plausible common use for the “firecrackers” the RCMP referred to as “pipe bombs.” Lambert added, these “firecrackers” have a firecracker fuse, and in the world of “explosive” they are “no big deal.”

Fellow accused, Chris Carbert, is does not face the additional charge of unlawful possession of explosives for a dangerous purpose. This is the first full week of the case for the defence. The trial began on June 6 when the Crown began presenting its case.

Ray McGinnis is a Senior Fellow with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy who recently attended several days of testimony at the Coutts Two trial.