Responding to the medical laboratory staffing shortage: the Canadian perspective

Shortages of qualified medical laboratory personnel have not been a problem in Canada since the early 1960s, when the profession experienced a growth that far exceeded training capacities. Massive immigration, primarily from the United Kingdom, provided a temporary patch for the urgent human resources (HR) supply. Medical laboratory technologist training program enrollments were increased rapidly, and, by the early 1970s, more than 1,200 new graduates were generated each year. In the late-1980s, a trend evolved in Canada that raised concern about the ability to attract suitable applicants to careers in medical laboratory technology. However, that issue quickly faded as a priority when the health reform of the 1990s struck Canada.