Travers Fellowship

Stephanie Dubois, a CBC News journalist and freelance writer based in Edmonton, has been awarded this year’s $25,000 R. James Travers Foreign Corresponding Fellowship. Her series of radio documentaries and online feature articles will be produced for CBC’s White Coat, Black Art and the CBC News online platform.

See the news release from Carleton University, which administers the endowed Fellowship fund.

The Story

Canada’s health-care system is in “crisis,” according to experts, and among those issues is a significant shortage of nurses.

Those shortages have led provincial politicians in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba to amp up the recruitment of Filipino nurses. But that recruitment comes at a time when the Philippines is facing its own significant shortage of nurses in both public and private hospitals. 

This series will attempt to answer if this overseas recruitment is a sustainable, ethical solution to Canada’s nursing shortage. Specifically, what is the cost of this recruitment to Filipinos and their health-care system at a time when they, too, are in need of nurses.

Dubois notes: “Timely access to health-care services is top of mind for many Canadians right now. A shortage of nurses remains a huge issue, with Canadian politicians attempting to attract more Filipino nurses to fill nursing vacancies. But it’s important that we understand the impact of those hiring efforts on the Philippines, which is also in need of nurses. I plan to explore the issue from the perspective of Filipino nurses, their families and examine the effects of international recruitment on patient access to the health-care system in the Philippines.”

The Journalist

Stephanie Dubois has more than 13 years of reporting experience, most recently covering government promises made during the COVID-19 pandemic and women’s health issues for CBC, where she also produces the weekly health podcast, The Dose. 

The Journalism

Stephanie Dubois published several iterations of her Travers Fellowship project with the CBC.

In addition to Stephanie's work as part of the Fellowship, she's been asked to speak further about the recruitment of Filipino nurses as health-care systems across Canada continue to look for staff.

Stephanie appeared alongside her colleague at White Coat, Black Art host Dr. Brian Goldman, to discuss the current state of staff shortages across the country and what B.C. is doing to fill those gaps. 

The Reporter’s Notebook

When the ping of a Facebook message came through mid-interview, nurse Irene Bernabe immediately picked up her phone.

It was a junior colleague asking about a procedure, hours before Irene was supposed to start her shift.

She received several more Facebook messages from neighbours and colleagues during our time together in her home.

But it was when we met friends and colleagues in her barangay – who she often treated for free – that I realized that Irene is much more than a neighbour or colleague.

She is critical to her community, and her imminent departure to the U.K. for better job opportunities will cause a ripple effect much larger than just her immediate family.

When I set out to do this series, I was solely thinking about it through a health and immigration lens. But taking the advice of former Travers fellows on being ready to pivot, it quickly became clear on the ground that this series had complex layers, dealing with issues of health policy, history, economics, and education.

I wanted Canadians to know that Filipino nurses’ stories don’t begin once they start working in Canada. They leave behind family, friends, and communities to strengthen our healthcare system and give us care in long-term care homes, hospitals and remote medical clinics.

It was an immense privilege to hear and share their stories. I am forever thankful to the nurses and to the Fellowship for allowing me to connect in person.

Many of the stories shared on radio, television and online as part of this series happened thanks to a great team of freelancers. Meeting Irene Bernabe wouldn’t have been possible without freelancer Guill Ramos, and the series came to life with the help of videographer Jayson Pajarillo, photographers Geric Cruz and Jilson Tiu, and driver Rodney Ramos.

As we were doing interviews, it was difficult at times to hear that countries like Canada have gone to the Philippines to recruit the best of the best when the Philippines badly needs its nurses.

Especially as I knew that despite Canada having a higher nurse-to-population ratio than the Philippines, provinces are still recruiting nurses from the country.

Many hospital directors spoke about how international recruitment leaves behind job vacancies and poorer access to healthcare for Filipinos.

I saw it at Ospital ng Lungsod ng San Jose del Monte in Bulacan, with patients in the hallways and in a makeshift ward as nurses rushed from room to room.

The hospital director, Dr. Erbe Bugay, told me they can’t find nurses willing to work at the hospital, and as a result, a new ward sits empty.

His frustration with the longstanding problem of the country’s nurse migration was palpable and he, like so many others, wants to see solutions to keep nurses in the country.

My hope with this series is that Canadians and government leaders realize that we need to be part of finding solutions, too. 

Sharing the stories of Filipino nurses is far from over. But all of this would never have happened if not for the Fellowship.

I am forever changed by the experience and forever grateful.