Quebec is losing youth, new report finds nurses faster than it can replace them: 37 nurses under age 35 are leaving the workforce for every 100 who start work in 2023.
Montreal The Economic Institute (MEI) reports that the province nurse shortage there are no signs of abating, although the figures are slightly better than ten years ago, when 40 new nurses left for every 100 who started.
“This outcome exacerbates the shortage of health care workers and puts even more pressure on an already overburdened system,” said Emmanuelle B. Faubert, MEI economist.
The study points to long hours, burnout and bureaucracy as the main reasons for nurses leaving.
According to a 2025 survey by the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions, working conditions have a serious impact on nurses' mental health and morale.
The survey found that more than a third of nurses had worked involuntary overtime in the past six months, six in 10 had experienced violence or abuse at work in the past year, and one in four showed clinical signs of anxiety, depression or burnout.
“Although Quebec has seen a modest improvement in the rate of nurses leaving the workforce over the past decade, it is clear that this is not enough,” Faubert said.
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“No province should be content with losing more than one in three young nurses for every aspiring nurse.”
While Quebec's agreement with France has helped attract more foreign professionals, Faubert says it is still too difficult for foreign nurses to get licensed in the province.
Faubert also criticized the Legault government's decision to ban private nursing agencies, arguing that the move backfired.
The report estimates that the ban removed 3.7 million hours of work from the system in just five months, equivalent to 4,400 full-time nursing jobs.
“Nursing agencies have played a key role in keeping more young nurses motivated,” Faubert said. “The flexibility they provide can help them stay employed, especially when they are tired of chronic overtime in the public system.”
Registered nurses aren't the only health care workers feeling dissatisfied with their jobs.
Alia Haji, a nurse practitioner in Ontario and CEO and founder of NP Circle, an organization that supports nurse practitioners (NPs) in Canada, says NPs are in a similar situation.
“These findings are consistent with what we're hearing from nurse practitioners as well. In our recent national survey of nearly 700 NPs, 49% reported burnout, 55% cited an overwhelming workload, and 43% struggled with work-life balance,” she told Global News.
Haji added that the current reality is not just disappointment, it is a crisis.
“Nurse practitioners have been trying to fill these gaps over the past few years, but we are doing a lot more with less,” she said.
“Greater flexibility and adequate support are needed to ensure workforce sustainability across all health professions.”
However, some provinces are doing better.
British Columbia, for example, has cut the turnover rate of new nurses in half since 2014 by making it easier to license internationally trained nurses and giving them more control over their schedules.
Nationally, MEI found that for every 100 new hires, 40 nurses under the age of 35 are leaving as the number of vacancies across Canada has nearly tripled in five years.
“Burning our young nurses today means no nurses tomorrow,” Faubert said.
Economists such as Faubert are calling for policy changes to improve nurses' morale and ensure their job satisfaction. She urges provinces to look to British Columbia's shift system, which allows nurses to change shifts without management approval, as a model to follow.
“Protecting our health care system requires ending the government monopoly to give nurses the working conditions they deserve.”
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
