October 26, 2011 | Alberta

For the past several years, Canada has been gripped by a serious shortage of nursing professionals, leading to increased wait times at hospitals, nurses putting off their retirement to meet demand, and a growing need for nursing school graduates in the workplace.

The demand is particularly great in Alberta, where economic troubles and a booming population have left the province with one hospital bed for every 600 Albertans. This shortage has even placed the opening of the new South Calgary Hospital in jeopardy as the region lacks the staff to fill the facility, leading them to use staff from neighboring hospitals in the short term.

According to the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA), which represents nearly 140,000 workers in the field, the country will need roughly 12,000 nursing program graduates just to keep up with the current rate of retiring and injured nurses. Unfortunately, the country has produced fewer than 10,000 nurses each year since the mid-70s, the Calgary Herald reports.

With such high demand, now is the perfect time to pursue practical nursing training. Find out more about the Practical Nursing program at CDI College by filling out the form to your right.