Silas: Oversight and accountability sorely needed to end the profiteering of the health human resources crisis
September 23, 2024 (Ottawa, ON) – Nationwide spending on for-profit nursing agencies has boomed to billions spent within one fiscal year, revealed a new report from the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU).
“While governments, employers and unions have been working to fix workplaces and solve the health care crisis, corporate stakeholders have been taking advantage of the hardship facing our health care system,” said CFNU President Linda Silas. “One thing is now crystal clear: for-profit nursing agencies are not a sustainable solution to Canada’s staffing crisis.”
Aiming to shed light on the skyrocketing use of for-profit agencies across Canada, the CFNU partnered with Queen’s University to conduct this mixed methods study led by Dr. Joan Almost. Released today, Opening the black box: Unpacking the use of nursing agencies in Canada unveiled a sharp increase in agency spending and a concerning lack of regulations and transparency over how these companies operate.
More than $1.5 billion public health dollars are projected to be paid out to for-profit nursing agencies in the 2023-2024 fiscal year. The rise in spending has been rapid, with a 6-fold increase over just three years, up from $247.9 million in 2020-2021. These estimates are based on available data, but, given the lack of transparency, the real values are much higher.
Dr. Almost emphasized the impact of the industry operating largely unregulated and the need for accountability.
“Employers are being put into pressured situations when an agency they are working with further increases the rates, leading to a lot of conversations about the ceiling and deciding when enough is enough,” said Dr. Almost. “Do they go along with the unexpected rate hikes, or leave units without adequate staffing, or cancel services?”
Silas said employer testimonies underscore the dire need to sustainably address staffing shortages through proven retention and recruitment initiatives.
“Billions of dollars have been pushed into short-term fixes when we could have had an incredible impact on the nursing shortage and our health care workplaces with that investment,” Silas explained.
Opening the black box outlines key recommendations to address this costly trend, including:
“We can’t allow this profiteering of the health care crisis to continue,” said Silas. “It’s time to do right by nurses and do right by the public and implement sustainable solutions to pull our country out of this crisis.”
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For more information please contact Adella Khan, CFNU Communications, media@nursesunions.ca, 613-807-2942.
The Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU) is Canada’s largest nurses’ organization, representing frontline unionized nurses and nursing students in every sector of health care – from home care and LTC to community and acute care – and advocating on key priorities to strengthen public health care across the country.