MCPARA

Hi All,
I am really interested in moving to Canada, BC in particular , with my young family. I am currently employed in the UK as an Urgent Care Practitioner for an out of hours GP led Primary Care service, having been qualified as a paramedic for 10 years. I have extensive experience in a variety of clinical roles in both London and Birmingham in the UK. I am degree educated and now currently studying a Masters Degree in Advanced Clinical Practice and expect to graduate in 3 years. This will make me a prescribing clinican with other "advanced skills".
I was wondering if there are any roles in Canada which involve pafamedics working in primary or community care? If not, I'd happily work in more "mainstream" roles (I guess that's what you'd call them!).
Also, is the transition and transfer of skills an easy thing to do over there?
Thanks for any replies,

christmasoompa

Hi, and welcome to BE.

You will need to jump through a few hoops to be able to work as a paramedic in Canada, if you search the forum you'll find more info, here's one previous thread to get you started - Becoming a Paramedic in Canada

For any questions on visa eligibility, head to the immi section of the forum.

HTH, best of luck.

Siouxie

https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/marketrepo...ements/4415/ca - links to each Provincial Regulatory body.

BC helpfully have this - pan halfway down for 'internationally trained' : https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/h...nce-applicants



Nurse Practitioners often take on the 'community' roles here, particularly for remote locations.. https://cna-aiic.ca/en/nursing-pract...-practitioners
How to register (you may need that Masters).. https://www.bccnm.ca/NP/applications...s/Default.aspx

MCPARA

Thanks for that siouxsie, lots of good info there!

ukcanuck

Heres a website that might help. Its run by a mix of Aus and UK paramedics who have come over. Process is not easy but well worth it. You might even recognize a few names over here in BC as they are hiring UK managers to help sort out the system. One from London.

International Paramedics – Helping paramedics from around the world move to Canada (internationalparamedicsbc.com)

They have their own "Community Paramedic" program that will eventually catch up with what is happening in the UK. There are very few paramedics working in ER and none that I know of working within a GP/UCC setting. Thats Nurses and to be an NP you need your BSN nursing and a Masters in NP.

For info here are the links for the contracts and wage grids for BCEHS

APAD-2019-2022 Wage Schedules-FINAL-20191212.xlsx (heabc.bc.ca)
Collective Agreements (heabc.bc.ca)
ARTICLE 23 – TRAINING & QUALIFICATIONS (heabc.bc.ca)

Do a quick search for BCEHS on Global news as the service is having a slight implosion. Nothing compared to what some services have had in the UK but better informed is better armed for any big decisions like moving.

Hope that helps and PM me if you have any specific questions. Good luck

christmasoompa

I'm just going to add to this, as I always do with this website, that the OP should completely ignore the immigration/visa section as it's totally wrong on a lot of things! Hopefully their info on paramedic qualifications etc is slightly more accurate.

ukcanuck

Thanks Christmasoompa, I forgot that their immigration info is not correct/up to date. As far as I know the paramedic aspect is still up to date as the process in BC does not change quickly at all. The guys I know who have come to BC recently were Canadians returning home so didn't have to worry about that aspect. Hopefully the OP can get the immigration sorted
Cheers

MCPARA

Thanks a lot for the input guys, it's much appreciated. The internationalparamedics site has got some really useful stuff on there. I'll bear the immigration stuff in mind!