Scottish Midwife Faces Work Permit Hurdles in BC

0:00A Scottish midwife named Heather Gilchrist is heading back home after federal immigration officials twice denied her work permit for British Columbia. She spent a decade practicing and teaching in the UK before finishing a special bridge program at the University of British Columbia to get certified here. Earlier this week, her first rejection came over a missing English language test even though she's a native speaker. She quickly fixed that and resubmitted, but now the issue is that immigration, refugees and citizenship Canada, won't recognize the UBC program as, qualifying for work permits. Gilchrist has a flight book for April 4th and says there's nothing more she can do. The program is the only path for internationally trained midwives to work in the province, and UBC knows that since it started in 2015, more. Then 80 graduates are now caring for families across British Columbia and Canada. University officials called it a misunderstanding and provided a supportive letter for her application, but IRCC hasn't clarified their stance despite.

1:02Questions from reporters, immigration lawyer Will Tau points out these mix-ups happen amid tighter controls on temporary workers. With obstetric shortages already straining care in British Columbia, blocking this pathway could make things much worse, leaving skilled midwives. Like Gilchrist unable to help where they're needed most.