TORONTO - New figures show the number of nurses active in Ontario is increasing, but more nurses are also leaving the province for work or taking leaves.
A report from the College of Nurses of Ontario says that this year more than 178,000 nurses renewed their registration with the college, aside from those registered as non-practising, and about 158,000 of them are working as nurses in Ontario.
That's up from about 140,000 working nurses in Ontario in 2016.
But the report says the percentage of nurses working in the province has declined.
In 2016, 91.2 per cent of nurses were working in Ontario in the profession, but this year that's down to 88.9 per cent, as growing numbers of nurses work in nursing outside the province, or take a leave.
The college says more than 9,800 nurses didn't renew their registration this year, nearly 1,000 more than in 2022, though that was offset by about 15,100 gains, mostly new nurses and many of them internationally educated.