Roxies1988

Hi , can anyone help ? Myself and my friend will both be newly qualified nurses next year and are thinking or moving to Canada.. Alberta . I will be a mental health nurse and my friend a paediatric nurse both studied in England for 3 years at university. I’ve read a few posts dating back to 2015 stating that that wouldn’t be accepted and would need 4 years of study , can anyone give me any idea of where to look or if this is still the case. Thanks in advance

christmasoompa

Hi, and welcome to BE.

What visa would you be planning to move on?

Getting licensed to work as a nurse in Canada certainly isn't for the faint hearted, although 4 years seems a bit extreme, I've not heard of it taking that long. I'd suggest you do a search of the forum, it's been asked lots before and there are many useful threads that are worth a read. Here's one to get you started - UK nurse moving to Canada

Just spotted you've posted in the Oz forums too, so this Wiki article may also be useful - https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Canada_versus_Australia

HTH. Best of luck.

Roxies1988

Sorry I meant as in the 3 year BSc (Hons) wouldn’t be accepted and there would be a bridging course / further study required for another year in order to transfer the nursing registration from the uk to Canada ... thank you so much for your response and any advice would be welcome on visas / places to live / transferring registration. Anything at all I don’t really know where to start!

:-)

christmasoompa

Ah, I see, yes a year is about right from what I've read. Afraid I'm not a nurse so don't have any first hand experience, but grab a cuppa and get reading, all the info you need to know is in on forum.

I'd start with visa first though, check you're eligible for one and then if so, you can see if you'd be prepared to go through the hassle and cost of getting registered to work in Canada.

Best of luck.

Phaedru5

I apologise in advance for my brutal honesty but you need to realise what is involved; My wife is now over 3 years into the transfer process and still not finished. It is the most disgusting shambolic careless, useless and frustrating process of any kind we have ever come across or experienced. She is a Canadian Citizen, with several years experience in healthcare IN CANADA prior to moving to England, then completed full degree in Adult Nursing in the UK (graduated with a 1st), we now live back in Canada for 3 years and started the process before we moved back, it has been test after course after course, none of which has been useful to actually improving as a nurse, more being used for research purposes writing essays on ethics and the like. Oh and it has cost us a fortune, several thousand dollars. She is now over 3yrs out of practice and worries that when she does return to work she will have lost everything she worked so hard to become. 6 months at a time go by between stages of the courses, exams or whatever they decide is required next with little or no contact despite constant chasing and questioning and urging. All the while we see adverts on TV crying out for more nurses, BC is now starting an incentive drive to get more nurses; well you have one living 10 minutes from a major city hospital who isnt allowed to work because, well, frankly, I dont know why. My wife is Canadian born, loves her home country and where we live, but wishes we had never come back from England some days as her career has completely stalled. I would not recommend this process to anybody I just CAN NOT understand why they make the process so long, complicated and unstructured so as that I am truly amazed that anybody has completed it, it feels like it just goes on and on and on, kind of like this post! I apologise for the rant but I do not apologise for my strong opinions on this matter. If as a side note anybody reading this can point me in the direction of a senior authority in healthcare I would really appreciate it, we both feel the need to express these opinions for the good of nursing and any future nurses wanting to transfer there must be a huge loss of talent and many frustrated ex-nurses out there who could be helping out in this dire time of need.

In summary, if you really want to move to Canada, choose another career.

Siouxie

Hello and welcome to BE!
Without prior work experience you may struggle to become qualified to work as a nurse in Alberta (Nursing is Provincially regulated as well as Federally).
Mental Health nurse (Registered Psychiatric Nurse) - https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/info/Page8492.aspx
Paediatric nurse (RN with Pediatric skills) - https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/info/Page8605.aspx
https://careers.albertahealthservice...diatrics-88853

Our wiki might be useful > https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Nursing-Canada