Canada is losing young nurses at a rate a new Montreal Economic Institute report, released this morning, calls alarming for a strained hospital system.
The report finds that for every 100 nurses under 35 who registered to practise in Canada, 34 others did not renew their registration in 2024. That is an improvement on the year before, the institute says, but the ratio remains high.
Ontario recorded 31 young nurses leaving for every 100 who entered in 2024, the largest deterioration over a decade among the provinces cited. British Columbia was the best performer, having cut young-nurse turnover sharply since 2014, though it still loses 26 per 100 entrants.
The institute argues provinces need to give young nurses better working conditions and flexibility to stay, noting that roughly 27,000 nursing positions were open across Canada in 2025.
