‘A no-brainer’: Why some US health-care workers are moving to Nova Scotia

When Donald Trump started talking about running for re-election, Heather O’Dell started looking for a way out.

“I had a feeling he was going to win,” he said. “I couldn’t really understand how it was going to happen, but it seemed like it really was.”

As an American citizen, O’Dell did not like where the country was headed.

He also feared for his safety.

“I knew … the federal government could step in and start doing things like changing my passport gender and changing my driver’s license gender, all the things that make me feel safe as a trans-identifying person, that they could take those things away very quickly.”

As the 2024 U.S. presidential election approached, O’Dell, a newly qualified registered nurse in Vermont, applied for a nursing license in Nova Scotia.

after a few days Trump’s election victoryShe told her co-workers that she was leaving.

In late December, she moved to Halifax. She began work as a cardiovascular intensive care nurse on January 1, 2025.

“It was just a random thing. I didn’t even come to visit. I thought, ‘I’m going to stay here,'” she said.

O’Dell is one of dozens of health-care workers from across the United States who have moved to Nova Scotia in the past year as more people move across the border, in some cases seeking a more welcoming environment.

Nova Scotia Health says 50 U.S. health-care workers took up positions in Nova Scotia in the last fiscal year, up from 31 in 2024.

‘We just want to live our lives and not be bothered’

Two of them are Steve and Matt Ortiz, who have decades of nursing experience.

The couple is originally from Orlando, Florida. But when Trump was elected in Florida – after years of anti-2SLGBTQ+ rhetoric and policies – they started looking to Canada.

“We just want to live our lives and not be bothered,” Matt said. He said that some people questioned his decision and said that the situation was not so bad or that they would go back soon.

“It’s their opinion. It’s our life. I’m 55 – I want to spend the rest of my existence somewhere where I don’t feel like I have to look behind me all the time.”

After an unsuccessful attempt to get a nursing job in Alberta, she headed to Nova Scotia. With the help of a recruiter from the provincial health authority, Ortiz found a position at Aberdeen Hospital in New Glasgow.

They arrived in Nova Scotia with their 45-kilogram bulldog in late summer. Since arriving, the couple said, their stress levels have reduced “by 80 percent.” They have purchased an old Victorian home in Pictou County that they are renovating, and are looking at Nova Scotia as their long-term home.

“We’re not planning on going anywhere,” Matt said.

But he says it’s the people of Nova Scotia – many of whom went out of their way to welcome the couple to the community – that have strengthened his confidence in their decision.

“It seems like most of the consensus across the province is, you know what? Be a good person, do good work, treat people good. That’s really all we want,” Matt said. “And that’s all we want. We just want to be treated fairly, treated politely, just like we would treat you.”

Volunteer-led initiative provides information, advice

A volunteer-led initiative is trying to help even more American health care workers move to Canada.

This initiative was started by Todd MaffinLast year, as tariffs and political tensions between Canada and the U.S. rose, Maffin, a digital marketer, business journalist and former CBC Radio host in Nanaimo, B.C., posted a TikTok video encouraging Americans who wanted to support the Canadian economy to spend money in Canada.

“And hundreds of them came on the weekend we chose.”

Then something unexpected happened, Mafin said. The group of Americans who demonstrated included dozens of health-care workers, who were using the weekend as an opportunity to seek an escape to Canada if needed.

Muffin and his wife helped connect those people with the hospital in Nanaimo, and decided to continue those efforts by creating a website Canadian Healthcare Infusion,

Initially, the website was directed to Vancouver Island, and included resources about the immigration process as well as information about things such as the status of local schools. The website also featured a chat room through the Discord platform, where those interested in visiting could ask questions that could only be answered by locals.

Maffin realized that the infrastructure could be easily replicated anywhere, so he called on people to start their own.

“There’s no charity or company or anything like that behind it. It’s just people outside their desks, in the evenings and on the weekends, trying to make a difference.”

It now contains 14 Infusion chapters, including one Nova Scotia Started by retired health administrator Carolyn Fallis.

When he saw the call for amnesty, Fallis jumped at the opportunity to get involved. She said she did not know much about computers, and had never used a Discord server, but had inspiration as a cancer survivor with a diabetic brother and no family doctor.

“It got personal, didn’t it? …And because I’m retired, I thought I’d go for it.”

The Nova Scotia chapter has been running since September. Fallis said she has been surprised by how supportive Nova Scotians – including some Americans who have recently moved – have been.

“People will jump right on[Discord]and start answering questions. I’m just overwhelmed by the generosity of people helping.”

‘If you can get here…come’

As for Heather O’Dell, she said last year that she felt her decision to relocate was justified and that she is in the process of applying for permanent residence and renouncing her US citizenship.

She’s also spending her free time talking to people online and lending her support to others who want to make the move.

“I ask people to come, especially gender-diverse people. If you can get here, if you have a way, come.”

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