Alberta
Province pours millions into bridging programs for foreign trained nurses
Investing in nursing skills training
Alberta’s government is investing $11 million in nurse bridging programs for internationally educated nurses.
There is a growing need for health care professionals to help address current and future demand throughout the health care system. Alberta’s post-secondaries play an important role in ensuring there are enough qualified nurses when and where Albertans need them.
Through this funding, internationally educated nurses will have access to an additional 1,221 spaces at post-secondary institutions so they can complete the programs they need for certification in Alberta.
“Investing in more seats in bridging programs helps internationally educated nurses get to work in our communities and meet Alberta’s need for highly skilled and dedicated health care workers. Our post-secondary institutions are valued partners in meeting that need, both in their home communities and across the province.”
This funding is enabling Alberta’s government to create 848 new registered nurse pathway seats and 373 new licensed practical nurse seats over three years to help nurses who were trained in other countries become licensed to practice nursing in Alberta. This builds on the more than 600 new seats for registered nurse and licensed practical nurse bridging programs announced in February.
“Adding additional seats for nurse bridging programs is a vital step towards addressing the growing demand for health care professionals in our province. Internationally educated nurses play a crucial role in meeting the health care needs of Albertans and this initiative will help them integrate more easily into communities across our province.”
“Lethbridge will play a major role in this program, as it is uniquely positioned with two leading post-secondary institutions that will be connected to almost one-quarter of the new seats and will help open opportunities for nurses outside of Alberta’s major centres.”
“The College of Registered Nurses of Alberta supports the announcement of the investment to create additional seats in bridging programs for internationally educated nurses. The college looks forward to seeing the impact this has on strengthening the health care ecosystem in Alberta.”
Alberta’s government is also investing $3 million for planning and design work at University Hall at the University of Lethbridge. Known for its award-winning design and being the first building built on campus, its former lab spaces will be modernized to better suit the needs of the growing university.
“Investments in initiatives that enhance Alberta’s health care system are of utmost importance. Access to a high-quality health care system not only promotes individual well-being but also plays a pivotal role in fortifying the resilience of Alberta’s communities.”
“We are always looking for innovative ways to enhance and expand program access for students. This is a great example of collaboration between the provincial government, the Lethbridge College and the University of Lethbridge.”
Quick facts
- The $11 million over the next three years will create 1,221 additional seats for nurse bridging programs at:
- $2.4 million – University of Lethbridge/Lethbridge College: 100 seats
- $2.6 million – Lethbridge College partnering with Bow Valley College: 108 seats
- $0.5 million – Bow Valley College: 96 seats
- $0.5 million – Northwestern Polytechnic: 96 seats
- $0.5 million – Portage College: 96 seats
- $0.5 million – Keyano College: 96 seats
- $2.4 million – MacEwan University: 364 seats
- $0.5 million – Keyano College partnering with NorQuest College: 40 seats
- $0.6 million – Red Deer Polytechnic partnering with NorQuest College: 135 seats
- $0.4 million – NorQuest College: 90 seats
- Under Budget 2023, Alberta’s government is also investing $7.8 million annually to fund non-repayable financial assistance for internationally educated nurses.
- Eligible internationally educated nurses can access as much as $30,000 over five years to offset the costs of nursing bridging programs, including tuition. The bursary is non-repayable for those who agree to live and work in rural Alberta as a nurse after graduation for a period of one year for every $6,000 in assistance provided.
- Budget 2023 investments at University of Lethbridge:
- Alberta’s government is investing $3 million in planning funding to improve the facility’s energy efficiency and operating sustainability.
- The funding will support the next phase of the destination project to repurpose vacant buildings and will look for opportunities to minimize greenhouse gas emissions and maximize energy efficiency – all to better meet the needs of students in the future.
- Budget 2023 invests:
- $1 million over three years to create 100 new seats in the bridge to Canadian nursing for internationally educated nurses program in collaboration with Lethbridge College.
- $0.6 million over three years to create 16 seats in the bachelor of nursing program in collaboration with Lethbridge College.
- $1.7 million over three years to create 40 new seats in the bachelor of science in computer science program.
- $0.3 million over three years to create 35 new seats in the graduate certificate in data science.
- Total: $3.6 million
- Budget 2023 investments in southern Alberta (University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge College and Medicine Hat College):
- Targeted enrolment expansion: $3.9 million to create 169 new seats in high-demand programs
- Tech talent funding: $2.1 million to create 135 seats in high-demand technology programs
- Internationally educated nurses:
- $2.4 million to create 100 new seats in a collaborative bridging program for internationally educated nurses at the University of Lethbridge and Lethbridge College.
- $2.6 million to create 108 new seats in the Bow Valley College practical nurse diploma program at Lethbridge College.
- Apprenticeship funding: $2.7 million to support seats for apprentices
- Capital maintenance and renewal funding: $10.9 million to update campus facilities and improve student experiences
- Total: $24.6 million
Alberta
Alberta introduces bill banning sex reassignment surgery on minors
From LifeSiteNews
Alberta Conservative Premier Danielle Smith followed through on a promised bill banning so-called ‘top and bottom’ surgeries for minors.
Alberta Conservative Premier Danielle Smith made good on her promise to protect kids from extreme transgender ideology after introducing a bill banning so-called “top and bottom” surgeries for minors.
“It is so important that all youth can enter adulthood equipped to make adult decisions. In order to do that, we need to preserve their ability to make those decisions, and that’s what we’re doing,” Smith said in a press release.
“The changes we’re introducing are founded on compassion and science, both of which are vital for the development of youth throughout a time that can be difficult and confusing.”
Bill 26, the Health Statutes Amendment Act, 2024 “reflects the government’s commitment to build a health care system that responds to the changing needs of Albertans,” the government says.
The bill will amend the Health Act to “prohibit regulated health professionals from performing sex reassignment surgeries on minors.”
It will also ban the “use of puberty blockers and hormone therapies for the treatment of gender dysphoria or gender incongruence” to kids 15 and under “except for those who have already commenced treatment and would allow for minors aged 16 and 17 to choose to commence puberty blockers and hormone therapies for gender reassignment and affirmation purposes with parental, physician and psychologist approval.”
Alberta Minister of Health Adriana LaGrange, the bill’s sponsor, said the province’s legislative priorities include “implementing policy changes to continue our refocusing work, position our health care system to respond to pressures and public health emergencies, and to preserve choice for minors. These amendments reflect our dedication to ensuring our health care system meets the needs of every Albertan.”
Earlier this year, the United Conservative Party (UCP) provincial government under Smith announced she would introduce the strong pro-family legislation that strengthens parental rights, protecting kids from life-altering, so-called “top and bottom” surgeries as well as other extreme forms of transgender ideology.
With Smith’s UCP holding a majority in the provincial legislature, the passage of Bill 26 is almost certain.
About the proposed law, Smith said that her government believes it is “vitally important to preserve the time” kids have as a “youth.” She added that she believes this is so kids can “gain sufficient amount of knowledge, experience, and perspective so that you can fully understand who you are, who you want to be and what opportunities you may want to have as an adult before making permanent life-altering decisions related to your body.”
While Smith has done far more than predecessor Jason Kenney to satisfy social conservatives, she has been mostly soft on social issues such as abortion and has publicly expressed pro-LGBT views, telling Jordan Peterson that conservatives must embrace homosexual “couples” as “nuclear families.”
This weekend, thousands of UCP members will gather for the party’s annual general meeting, where Smith’s leadership will be voted on along with many other pro-freedom and family policy proposals from members. Smith is expected to pass her leadership review vote with a large majority.
Alberta
Alberta court upholds conviction of Pastor Artur Pawlowski for preaching at Freedom Convoy protest
From LifeSiteNews
Lawyers argued that Pastor Artur Pawlowski’s sermon was intended to encourage protesters to find a peaceful solution to the blockade, but the statement was characterized as a call for mischief.
An Alberta Court of Appeal ruled that Calgary Pastor Artur Pawlowski is guilty of mischief for his sermon at the Freedom Convoy-related border protest blockade in February 2022 in Coutts, Alberta.
On October 29, Alberta Court of Appeal Justice Gordon Krinke sentenced the pro-freedom pastor to 60 days in jail for “counselling mischief” by encouraging protesters to continue blocking Highway 4 to protest COVID mandates.
“A reasonable person would understand the appellant’s speech to be an active inducement of the illegal activity that was ongoing and that the appellant intended for his speech to be so understood,” the decision reads.
Pawlowski addressed a group of truckers and protesters blocking entrance into the U.S. state of Montana on February 3, the fifth day of the Freedom Convoy-styled protest. He encouraged the protesters to “hold the line” after they had reportedly made a deal with Royal Canadian Mounted Police to leave the border crossing and travel to Edmonton.
“The eyes of the world are fixed right here on you guys. You are the heroes,” Pawlowski said. “Don’t you dare go breaking the line.”
After Pawlowski’s sermon, the protesters remained at the border crossing for two additional weeks. While his lawyers argued that his speech was made to encourage protesters to find a peaceful solution to the blockade, the statement is being characterized as a call for mischief.
Days later, on February 8, Pawlowski was arrested – for the fifth time – by an undercover SWAT team just before he was slated to speak again to the Coutts protesters.
He was subsequently jailed for nearly three months for what he said was for speaking out against COVID mandates, the subject of all the Freedom Convoy-related protests.
In Krinke’s decision, he argued that Pawlowski’s sermon incited the continuation of the protest, saying, “The Charter does not provide justification to anybody who incites a third party to commit such crimes.”
However, defence lawyer Sarah Miller pointed out that that Pawlowski’s sermon was protected under freedom of speech, an argument that Krinke quickly dismissed.
“While the appellant is correct that peaceful, lawful and nonviolent communication is entitled to protection, blockading a highway is an inherently aggressive and potentially violent form of conduct, designed to intimidate and impede the movement of third parties,” he wrote.
Pawlowski was released after the verdict. He has already spent 78 days in jail before the trial.
Pawlowski is the first Albertan to be charged for violating the province’s Critical Infrastructure Defence Act (CIDA), which was put in place in 2020 under then-Premier Jason Kenney.
The CIDA, however, was not put in place due to COVID mandates but rather after anti-pipeline protesters blockaded key infrastructure points such as railway lines in Alberta a few years ago.
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