The Registered Nurses Union says there is a big discrepancy between government numbers on nursing recruitment and the number of positions filled—and they want to know why. Government recently released a long-awaited vacancy report, five months after it was expected.

The report was due in April, but arrived five months late and still fails to answer questions raised by the union according to President Yvette Coffey.

She says their numbers don’t reflect government’s figures which show 660 nurses since April of 2023.

Last year there were 746 nursing vacancies according to the RNU, and despite recruitment efforts, they only see a net gain of about 50 positions filled.

Coffey says the union needs to know where the new nurses are, and why they’re still facing a severe staffing shortage.

Coffey says the discrepancy between the recruitment of 660 nurses and the small number of positions filled suggests a high rate of attrition and she wants to see government data on how many nurses have left the system over the last year and a half and the reasons for those departures.