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N.S. opposition worries health workers recruited from refugee camp could lack housing

Nova Scotia’s opposition parties say the province must guarantee housing for the 65 new health-care workers it has recruited from a Kenyan refugee camp.

Provincial NDP Leader Claudia Chender told reporters today she’s always happy to see increased immigration to Nova Scotia, but she’s worried about people being recruited to work in a province that lacks public services and housing.

Health Minister Michelle Thompson announced Wednesday that the province led a recruitment trip to Kenya in hopes of filling some health-care worker vacancies and 65 new continuing care assistants have been hired on conditional offers.

Chender says the plan is irresponsible unless the newcomers are set up with support and a place to live before they arrive, and Liberal Leader Zach Churchill echoed her concerns.

Nova Scotia Housing Minister John Lohr said today after a cabinet meeting that his department is working on a solution to house the new workers, who are set to arrive in the province this summer or fall.

Lohr says he’s optimistic the government will find a solution, and he hopes to announce something on the topic in the “coming weeks.”