We are grateful to the editors of Healthcare Papers for bringing the issue of integration and retention of internationally educated healthcare professionals (IEHPs) to the fore. We thank the authors for their careful reading and thoughtful observations on our work, as well as their commentaries on themes that were not developed. The commentaries also provide historical context, discipline-specific perspectives and excellent suggestions on how to facilitate and capitalize on international recruitment. Taking these into account, we would like to highlight some key issues and suggest additional steps that will improve the integration of IEHPs into the Canadian workforce.