B.C. targets U.S. doctors and nurses with recruitment ads near American hospitals
B.C. Minister of Health Josie Osborne in a file photo in Burnaby, B.C., on Monday, June 10, 2024. (Darryl Dyck / The Canadian Press)
British Columbia has launched a six-week, $5-million campaign of targeted advertisements to recruit doctors and nurses in the United States.
The Ministry of Health says the campaign launched on Monday is being shown on thousands of advertising screens in Washington, Oregon and California, at locations within a 16-kilometre radius of health-care facilities, as well as on podcasts and Netflix shows.
B.C. Health Minister Osborne says it's a step B.C. needs to 'take right now' to attract physicians, nurses and other health care workers, and the province will do everything in its power to ease their transition.
In one of the ads, a disgruntled-looking woman in hospital scrubs listens to 'news from Washington' before the scene cuts to outdoor views of British Columbia, and listeners are urged to follow their hearts to the province.
Osborne says B.C. is 'taking advantage of the certainty and chaos' in the United States after the election of President Donald Trump by reaching out to health workers who share the values of the province's health care system.
One ad says recruits can 'practice evidence-based care' in B.C., while another promises 'universal health care that puts people first.'
Osborne says nearly 1,600 health-care providers have already expressed an interest in moving to B.C. even before the ads launched, including 700 doctors and 500 nurses, but she could not say how many have made it to B.C.
She says B.C. will eventually expand its international recruitment to other jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom.
This report by Wolfgang Depner of The Canadian Press was first published June 6, 2025.
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