Photo: Contributed
The BC Care Providers Association held an emergency meeting on Monday in Kelowna and has now filed a complaint against the provincial government over what it perceives to be unfair labour restrictions.
The BCCPA is upset because it contends the B.C. government is imposing undue and unfair restrictions on out-of-province care aides who wish to work in the province, thereby contravening the New West Partnership Trade Agreement.
The group believes the restrictions are making the B.C. staffing crisis even worse.
Out-of-province care aides who wish to work at publicly funded B.C. care homes must pay $800 for a written examination that allows only one per cent of applicants to proceed without additional courses and training. They also have to take the test in Vancouver.
“I was absolutely amazed that I had to take two competency exams and pay over $1,400 to prepare for and get registered as a care aide in B.C.,” Rustam Mann, a care aide from Toronto who was offered a job in the Okanagan. “I found it extremely redundant that the study materials for the competency exams were exactly the same as what I used to get certified in Ontario.
“I still fail to understand why anyone within Canada moving to B.C. would have to retake an exam they have already passed in another province. It would be just as absurd to ask someone to retake their driver’s license when they are already in good standing.”
The BCCPA has declared a health human resources emergency in the Interior Health region due to severe staffing shortages. It warns that unless more care aides are hired, seniors in some communities might go without services this summer.
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