Beyond issues of labour demand, one issue hindering these internationally educated health professionals from entering the workforce is the challenge of successfully completing the relevant licensure exams. Moreover, many internationally educated nurses and international medical graduates would maintain that even meeting the requirements that allow them to register to take the required exams (including, for example, specialty certification exams in medicine) is a significant barrier. Of course, the main purpose of these exams is to protect the public’s interest in having high levels of safety and proficiency among health professionals. One approach currently being undertaken to address this problem is to administer relevant licensure exams internationally, so that potential migrants can write them before making a final decision regarding moving to Canada. For example, the Medical Council of Canada has recently begun offering Part 1 of its Qualifying Exam in over 80 countries, and registered nurses similarly offer the NCLEX-RN exam internationally.