Many trained nurses are reportedly leaving the U.S. for good and looking to start over in Canada, according to The Daily Beast. For many of them, the reason is President Trump.
As Trump’s policies affect public health and medical research deeply, nursing professionals in America are looking to move to a country where their critical skills are respected.
Canadian provinces have welcomed nurses from the US with open arms and have even put forward major recruitment drives. British Columbia reportedly launched a $5 million ad campaign last year.
According to the British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives, only 127 U.S.-trained nursing professionals got green signals to work in Vancouver in 2024. However, 2025 saw a staggering increase in the numbers as 1000 nurses in the last 10 months were cleared to continue working.
Justin Miller, originally a resident of Wisconsin, now works as a U.S.-trained nursing professional on Vancouver Island. Justin is among 20 nurses who work in the emergency room at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital.
His revelation paints a bigger picture as he assures America is not the only option and that medical workers are needed everywhere in the world.
“There are so many like-minded people out there. You aren’t trapped. You don’t have to stay. Health care workers are welcomed with open arms around the world.”
Trump Admin has done it again. This time in the Big Beautiful Bill the Dept of Education has formally excluded nursing from its list of “professional degree” programs.
As a result, nursing graduate students (e.g. Master’s, DNP, PhD) will no longer qualify for the $200,000…
— Sammi🦋 (@PatriotSammi) November 20, 2025
Amy Miller, Justin’s wife and a fellow nursing practitioner, revealed that she felt unsafe after federal agents killed ICU nurse Alex Pretti. Her statement was supported by another nurse, Susan Fleishman, who blamed Trump for making nurses live in fear.
“It wasn’t an easy move—that’s for sure. But I think it’s definitely worth it. I find there is a lot more kindness here. And I think that will keep me here.”
While most of these professional caregivers left as they feared for their lives in the wake of destructive ICE raids, others were drawn by Canada’s innovative medical policies and single-payer health care.
Industry experts have raised concerns that the voluntary exit by nurses could lead to a shortage of trained nurses in America. A report from the Health Resources and Services Administration suggests that by 2028, the US could lose at least 120,000 licensed practical nurses.
Trump’s America is losing a wave of nurses as Canada reels them in.https://t.co/UmoIiwuMAm
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) February 26, 2026
Nursing was declassified from being a professional degree by Trump’s signature Big Beautiful Bill, which was passed by the GOP-controlled Congress last year.
The bill put certain limits on federal student loans for students from the course, as the Education Department has geared up to revoke its professional degree designation.
The White House has refuted the claims of nurses choosing Canada over the US by tagging such instances as “anecdotes of individuals with severe cases of Trump derangement syndrome.”
