RESEARCH HUB
Canadian nursing — the evidence on the record.
Every figure on this page comes from a non-CareVoice source: peer-reviewed journals, federation reports, government surveys. CareVoice aggregates them, never restates them. Each row carries its source URL and a copy-citation button.
These are not CareVoice numbers. They are the landscape CareVoice is entering. CareVoice's own data activates at n≥30 per question and lives on the home page dashboard.
Burnout & psychological distress
BACKGROUND — CFNU 2024 · n=5,595
93%
of Canadian nurses report symptoms of burnout
BACKGROUND — CFNU 2025 · n=4,736
1 in 3
Canadian nurses meet the clinical threshold for both anxiety and burnout
BACKGROUND — Stelnicki et al. 2020 · n=7,358
29.3%
screened positive for clinical burnout on the MBI — even before the pandemic
BACKGROUND — JEN 2024
53%
of Canadian emergency-department nurses score in the high-burnout zone
Workplace violence & abuse
BACKGROUND — CFNU 2025 · n=4,736
6 in 10
Canadian nurses experienced violence at work in the past year
What used to be 'part of the job' is now measured.
BACKGROUND — Lee et al. 2025 · n=4,109
6 / 100
BC nurses formally report emotional abuse at work — 12 / 100 for sexual harassment
The other 94 carried it home.
BACKGROUND — Lee et al. 2025 · n=4,109
3 in 4
BC nurses who didn't report violence said it was because 'nothing will change'
BACKGROUND — CCOHS / AWCBC 2024
5×
more likely Canadian healthcare workers are to be physically assaulted than workers in other sectors
BACKGROUND — CFNU 2025 · n=4,736
37%
of Canadian nurses received no violence-prevention training; 40% no health-and-safety orientation
BACKGROUND — Lee et al. (derived) 2025 · n=4,109
94 / 100
incidents of emotional abuse never reach a formal record
Mandatory overtime / TSO
BACKGROUND — StatCan 2023
8.2h
average overtime per full-time Canadian nurse per week — record-high (2022)
BACKGROUND — FIQ / Radio-Canada 2023
2.75%
of all FIQ nursing hours were mandatory OT in Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean — January 2023 peak
BACKGROUND — Radio-Canada 2025
$7M
cost of mandatory-OT grievance compensation at one Quebec CIUSSS in 2025
Patient safety
BACKGROUND — Aiken/Lancet 2021
+7%
patient mortality risk per extra patient assigned to a nurse
Staffing isn't a comfort metric — it's a survival one.
BACKGROUND — CFNU 2024 · n=5,595
44%
of Canadian nurses witnessed a patient-safety near-miss in the last 6 months
BACKGROUND — CFNU 2024 · n=5,595
42%
of Canadian nurses were redeployed to an unfamiliar unit last year — 4 in 10 said they were inadequately trained
BACKGROUND — Nurses4All@BC 2025 · n=15,991
77%
of BC nurses reported their own workload as unsafe for patients (n=15,991)
Intent to leave
BACKGROUND — CFNU 2024 · n=5,595
4 in 10
Canadian nurses say they plan to leave their job in the next year
BACKGROUND — CFNU 2025 · n=4,736
1 in 3
early-career Canadian nurses are considering leaving the profession within 12 months
BACKGROUND — RNAO 2022 · n=5,000
69%
of Ontario RNs say they plan to leave their nursing position within 5 years
BACKGROUND — MEI 2025
40 / 100
young Canadian nurses (under 35) walked away in 2023 for every 100 who registered
BACKGROUND — FIQ 2025
16.4%
of new Quebec nurses leave the public network in their first year of practice
Retention & workforce
BACKGROUND — CIHI 2024
6.4%
of nurses didn't come back — the highest exit rate CIHI has recorded
BACKGROUND — CIHI 2024
30%
of Canadian nurses are 55 or older — up from ~10% in 2000
BACKGROUND — CIHI 2024
13.3%
of Canada's RN workforce was internationally educated in 2024 — and IENs drove 68% of net RN growth
Shortage projections
BACKGROUND — CNA 2024
117,000
nurses Canada will be short by 2030
Five years away. Counted, not projected.
For-profit agency spend
BACKGROUND — CFNU/CIHI 2024
$1.5B
spent on for-profit nursing agencies in 2023-24 — six times more than four years earlier
Mental health
BACKGROUND — Stelnicki et al. 2020 · n=7,358
1 in 3
Canadian nurses report lifetime suicidal ideation; 1 in 12 a past attempt
BACKGROUND — Stelnicki et al. 2020 · n=7,358
36%
of Canadian nurses screened positive for major depression — even before the pandemic
BACKGROUND — MHCC 2022
$1,500
average yearly cap on psychotherapy in employer benefits — about 8 to 12 sessions
Long COVID
BACKGROUND — INSPQ / IJID 2025
1 in 6
Quebec healthcare workers who caught COVID-19 developed long COVID — reinfection multiplied the risk
International comparison
BACKGROUND — OECD 2025
10.3
nurses per 1,000 in Canada — below Australia, Germany, and Sweden
Education pipeline
BACKGROUND — CASN 2025
77
Canadian nursing faculty positions could not be filled in 2024
By province
BACKGROUND — FIQ 2025
+844%
growth in vacant nursing positions in Quebec — 1,160 (2016) to 10,955 (2023)
BACKGROUND — CBC 2024
15,000h
of Ontario ER closures in 2024 — nursing shortages caused 85% of them
Closed doors are the visible end of an invisible shortage.
BACKGROUND — BC Government / NPR 2026
1,028
American nurses approved for licensure in BC since April 2025 — up from 127 the year before