Thank you to the member for that question.

We are seeing a record number of students coming into the health human resources field. Under the leadership of this Premier and this Minister of Health, our government has launched the largest health care recruiting and training initiative in this province’s history, and the results are there. I can tell you, the enrolment in universities alone this past fall, September 2022—over 109,000 students are entering into the nursing field; that’s nursing alone. We are attracting more registered practical nurses, more PSWs, and creating pathways for these students to upskill from a PSW to an RPN, and from an RPN to a registered nurse. The opportunities are there, and students are seeing that.

Our new Learn and Stay program alone—the day we announced it saw over 14,000 students check the website, because students are interested in getting into the nursing field, and there are opportunities there to ensure that we have more health human resources in the underserved and northern areas.

Thank you to the member for that question.

Building on the 14,000 nursing registrations in the province last year alone, our government is investing in a range of initiatives to track, train and retain even more nurses. As I mentioned earlier, this year alone in universities—this doesn’t even include colleges—over 109,000 registrations in September 2022.

We are seeing an increase year over year of students entering into the nursing profession.

Look at the investments that are being made in long-term care alone—60,000 new and upgraded beds, and the beds that the parliamentary assistant to health mentioned earlier in hospitals. The investments being made into the health care system are encouraging new and current nurses in the system. They want to be in nursing.

We expanded the new Learn and Stay program to include nurses, paramedics and lab technicians.

This is an exciting field that students are wanting to get into—health human resources—and this government is making the investments to ensure that they are successful.

I think instead of the fearmongering that the member is bringing to the floor, we need to celebrate the opportunities that we’re seeing—a record number of students entering into the nursing profession; as I mentioned, building on the 14,000 nursing registrants in the province last year alone. There are currently over 5,000 internationally educated nurses residing in Ontario whose applications are at various stages, who are able to enter the workforce sooner as a result of the changes that this government is making. We are breaking down registration barriers so that more health care professionals trained in Ontario and other provinces or internationally can practise here in Ontario.

We have a real opportunity here. We are seeing more and more nursing students entering into the profession—the work that our universities are doing, our stand-alone bachelor of science in nursing program now offered at colleges here in Ontario. We’re seeing it across the province—a record number of students who are able to work in our rural and our underserved areas and stay close to home, in the hospitals and long-term-care centres that need those nurses.