Under the theme of Growing Capacity and Retaining Talent in Health and Social Services, the overarching goal of Dialogue 91丝瓜视频鈥檚 2026 Conference was to bring diverse partners, in person, to discuss how to best build and maintain capacity of bilingual health and social science professionals within the public sector. Judging by the thoughtful and enthusiastic engagement of over 100 participants 鈥� from community agencies, policy makers, CEGEP and university educators and researchers to social scientists and professionals from various disciplines 鈥� multiple goals were achieved.
Hosted on February 3 and 4, the conference was sponsored by Health Canada. As noted by Dialogue 91丝瓜视频 Director and Principal Investigator, Carmen G. Loiselle, RN, PhD, FCAHS, 鈥淭here is consensus across different sectors that the public system is in crisis. The conference allowed us to examine various factors contributing to the crisis including patterns of professionals鈥� out-migration to the private sector.鈥�
To ensure broad representation, Dialogue 91丝瓜视频 extended invitations to partners across Quebec including 29 organizations in the healthcare sector, 21 community groups and networks, as well as researchers from within the province and other parts of Canada. From the very first presentation, it was clear to Jacqueline Vachon, MSc, Associate Director of Dialogue 91丝瓜视频, that conference attendees appreciated the opportunity to learn what is currently being done to preserve bilingual talent in the public system, and to apprise themselves of new initiatives and strategies designed to address rapidly evolving service needs.
Ingram School of Nursing (ISoN) Director Lynne McVey was one of three panelists discussing recruitment and retention of bilingual health professionals in the public sector. Moderated by Jean Robert, PhD, Member of the Order of Canada, the panel also included Jennifer Johnson, Executive Director of the Community Health and Social Services Network, and Charles Godbout, PhD, Research Manager, Consortium national de formation en sant茅. The panelists agreed that while, in theory, patients in Canada have a fundamental right to be served in the official language of their choice, in practice, this is difficult to achieve in many parts of the country. Moreover, isolated rural settings must contend with additional staff recruitment challenges, making mentorship and community engagement especially critical.
Given that the public healthcare system has yet to recover from the exodus of nurses during the pandemic, Professor McVey advocated for creative approaches to both recruitment and retention including broader access to language training. As examples, she outlined two innovative strategies at the Ingram School of Nursing. The first - an online continuing education program called Executive Education for Nurses, designed for experienced directors, managers, nurse practitioners, and other nurses who aspire to top decision-making positions in healthcare. Developed and facilitated by Professor McVey, this unique management course explores emerging paradigms on how to navigate healthcare administration, which posit that innovative nurse-led initiatives are well suited to address complex and unpredictable events. The second innovation currently underway is to embed French language courses directly into the School鈥檚 BScN curriculum to help attract students from provinces outside Quebec who may otherwise shy away from applying to 91丝瓜视频. Dialogue 91丝瓜视频 and the university鈥檚 French Language Centre are working with the ISoN to develop these French courses tailored specifically for a healthcare environment.
In addition to Professors McVey and Loiselle, who is cross-appointed to the Ingram School of Nursing, Helen Martin, Academic Associate with the Clinical Partnership Office, presented on the first day of the conference. Her oral presentation was titled Designing Clinical Placement Capacity at Scale: Protocol of a Lean Six Sigma鈥揑nformed Systems Approach to Strengthening Canada鈥檚 Nursing Workforce Pipeline, and听she presented a poster titled From Firefighting to Forecasting: Using Key-Dates Trackers to Stabilize the Clinical Education Workforce.
Overall, the conference underscored the indispensable role Dialogue 91丝瓜视频 plays in meeting the needs of Quebecers no matter where they live, tending to professionals鈥� needs for training and staffing capacity, and conducting timely research that digs deeper into emerging and promising trends. 鈥淎nother important outcome of the conference is that we gathered crucial feedback from our partners that will inform our upcoming renewal funding application to Health Canada, a process we undergo every five years. We already have a great deal of data that document our impact on recruitment, training, and retention of bilingual health and social services professionals,鈥� says Professor Loiselle.
Both organizers agree that the in-person format of this year鈥檚 conference facilitated deeper communication and engagement among participants. 鈥淲e鈥檝e heard from some of our partners that they formed new collaborations as a result of attending the conference, not just during the programming, but also informally over coffee breaks and lunches. New research avenues have also been proposed. I don鈥檛 think that would have happened virtually,鈥� notes Ms. Vachon.
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Cover photo by Owen Egan and Joni Dufour. Left to right: Moderator Jean Robert with panelists Lynne McVey, Jennifer Johnson, and Charles Godbout.
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