The new trend of Canadian nursing education and baccalaureate-diploma wage differentials in Quebec

Recently, Canada has been experiencing a severe nurse shortage. Although increasing numbers of registered nurses (RNs) to meet the ever-growing challenge to nursing resources in Canada is a serious matter, a four-year baccalaureate degree will be required in most Canadian provinces as an initial education for entry into the nursing practice by 2010. However, Quebec does not follow this new educational trend of Canadian nursing. Based on the latest educational trend of Canadian RNs, the main purpose of this study is to find the differences in patterns of education-based wage differentials between Quebec and the rest of Canada by measuring monetary returns from a four-year baccalaureate degree compared to a three-year diploma. This paper examines the substantial differences between Quebec and the rest of Canada in discounted lifetime earnings by an empirical analysis using the 2001 Canadian Census.