More than 110 U.S. nurses, physicians and allied health professionals have joined Fraser Health as part of a provincial campaign to attract American health care workers and break down barriers to them practising in Canada.
Photo (from left to right): RJ, registered nurse, Cardiac Surgery Intensive Care Unit, Royal Columbian Hospital; Kathryn Guir, registered nurse, Cardiac Surgery Intensive Care Unit, Royal Columbian Hospital; and Megan Harvey, cardiac nurse, Royal Columbian Hospital
In 2024, Megan Harvey decided to move her family from Indiana to B.C.
“My husband and I want to raise our children in an environment where diversity is celebrated,” says the nurse from Indiana.
Megan is now living with her family in Coquitlam and working as a cardiac nurse at Royal Columbian Hospital.
“Moving a family with two young children and starting a new job in a new country is a bit overwhelming, but also exciting,” says Megan. “My advice to others contemplating such a move is to be patient and start the process early.”
Megan first learned of Canadian health care opportunities through Health Match BC, a system that links physicians, registered nurses (RNs) and allied health professionals with career opportunities in B.C.'s publicly funded health system.
Fraser Health has recruited more than 110 health workers from the U.S. since the Ministry of Health launched a recruitment marketing campaign in Washington state, Oregon and California on June 2, 2025. Since arriving in B.C., these nurses, doctors and allied health professionals have become valued members of our teams.
For Kathryn Guir, the move to B.C. from Bremerton, Washington, was a bit like coming home.
“My husband RJ is Canadian, and we did a lot of travel nursing in the U.S. We always knew we wanted to move back to Canada and specifically B.C.,” she says.
Kathryn says the timing of their move was just right.
“I think in any other circumstance, we would have had a hard time transferring our RN licenses to B.C., but the Province of B.C. understood the struggles that American nurses faced at home and opened up a pathway to us by streamlining our applications,” she says.
Kathyrn and her husband are now working in the Cardiac Surgery Intensive Care Unit at Royal Columbian Hospital.
She admits feeling anxious about relocating because of the cost of living here.
“We heard that B.C. means ‘bring cash,’” she laughs, but once working, it was manageable.
Kathryn is still getting used to some of the differences between Canadian and U.S. health care.
“Non-invasive airway devices have different names,” she says. “Half the trade-name medications are familiar and half of them are totally new.” Terminology aside, she feels supported by her colleagues, Fraser Health and the people she cares for.
“I not only feel appreciated on a much greater level by patients,” says Kathryn, “but I also feel like I am able to do more for them.”
Asked what she would have done differently, Kathryn says: “That’s easy…we would have moved earlier.”
Find more information about the Ministry of Health’s recruitment marketing campaign in the U.S.
Ready to bring your skills to British Columbia? Whether you’re an internationally trained nurse, physician or allied health professional, we have a place for you on our team. Learn more.
