acoop

hi all, first ever post so forgive me if I do anything wrong. I am a qualified nurse since 2001 with a diploma in adult nursing. I went on to work in NICU and have been there 10+ years and now a senior nurse. I have my certificate in neonatal studies I am also due to complete my neonatal degree end of 2015 and aim to be in Canada shortly after that with my husband and 3 small kids. I am quite confused as to the best way to apply.

1)do I apply for job first then if successful do I then do exam to register with that state or do I register first?( like NMC)

2) do I need to have job offer before apply for visa or need visa first?


many thanks x

Simon Legree

Welcome to BE.
The best way to begin is by having a good read of the Wiki section. It's the fourth tab from the left on the blue bar above. It contains a wealth of information and should answer most of your questions. When you have had a good read come back with specific questions.
One small point, there are no states in Canada. There are provinces.
Good luck

Silverdragon102

Very hard to register as a nurse in Canada, your training transcripts need to show clinical and theory hours in Paeds, Mental Health, Obstetrics and Adult. Process just changed and first port of call is NNAS and their process can take anything from a few months to 2 years. Then you apply to the provincial college of RN and see what they make of the report NNAS gives. Then if you meet requirements you will get eligibility to sit NCLEX as that is the exam RN's will take from next month.

What route are you planning on coming over? If work permit then most employers want to see a pass in NCLEX or at least eligibility from the college to sit NCLEX. Plus to get work permit you need a job offer.

Suggest a read in this forum as there are a few threads discussing nursing

SchnookoLoly

As others have said, read the wiki (blue bar above), and do a search for other threads on the forum about nursing, there have been many. There are issues with having your UK credentials recognised in Canada, and then getting yourself certified to work in Canada, so do your research and make sure you know what you're getting yourself into.

Good luck!

Mad Jockette

Good advice from Simon, Silverdragon and SchnookoLoly.

Depending also on where you are planning to work in Canada, it might be worth contacting the appropriate HR / Talent Acquisition for the health area. They can give you advice that is up to date.

Good luck

highlandspirit

Hi,
I am a British nurse who emigrated to Canada with husband and 3 kids in 2009. This is how I proceeded...

1. November 2007 - I emailed the HR dept. of every hospital in the area I wanted to move to.
2. January 2008 - I had some interviews over the telephone and Skype
3. April 2008 - I applied to Canadian nurses association to sit the exam I had to have my nursing documents verified in the UK to do this.
4. May/June 2008 - I came to Canada to sit the nursing exam and visited the hospitals that had offered me a position whilst I was here. I also got them to write me a job offer and complete any forms that were needed for immigration.
5. June - I applied under the provincial sponsorship programme.
6. Nov 2008 - I then applied to London UK for immigration once I was accepted for Provincial Sponsorship. We needed medicals and police checks at this time.
7. I did not register with the college of nurses in my province in Canada until I absolutely needed to as it is expensive to do so.
8. January 2009 - We moved to Canada on a work permit which I had applied for at the time of applying for landed immigrant status.
8. April 2009 - We became landed immigrants.

The whole process from beginning to end was just over 1 year. It could have happened quicker, but I also had 2 stepsons who were not moving and the paperwork was a bit confusing. The information we had to collect was extensive so I suggest starting this as soon as possible.

It is true as someone else posted that you need to have experience and/or training in certain specialities. For the UK we do not do enough paediatric training, but I had enough experience in place of training to be accepted. Your experience in NICU may count towards that. If not it may mean taking additional training.

Depending on where you want to move to and which process you use for immigration will depend on how long it takes overall, that coupled with the time it takes for you to collect all the information you need will determine whether it takes 1 year or 5 to complete the process!
I wish you luck in your endeavours.

Tirytory

Wow I can only dream of it taking three months to source verify. I will soon approach a year without any news at all. I suspect the process has changed somewhat or somewhere along the time and of course it probably depends on province. I suspect Ontario is the longest...

Silverdragon102

Now IENs have to go through NNAS so time will have increased and things will take longer

Tirytory

Oh applied to register pre NNAS! Every time I go to the post box I hope there is a letter there for me from the CNO..

Silverdragon102

I can't see why things should be taking this long especially as IEN applications should be reduced whilst people go through NNAS enabling applications already in process to go through a bit quicker

Tirytory

Mmm well it's probably worth another phone call now although I do know someone else who hasn't heard about RPN and at a way longer time scale than me...

caleo

Nursing in Canada and the registration process has changed a lot since 2007/2008. Your first step would be to apply to NNAS to get your credentials reviewed. No one knows how long this process takes as it was only introduced last year (August I think) and so far I have not heard from anyone who has been through NNAS so not sure how you would find that out.
I am not sure what nursing is like in other provinces, but I would imagine it would be hard to secure employment without you having been assessed by the NNAS first.
I note that you are adult trained - they expect you to have equivalent training here - which would include paeds, maternity,and psychiatry.
I applied through CNO (ontario) and they were not interested in what I did after my initial training in 1991 - they ignored my BSc which I completed in 2011, and have never asked for any information on what I have been doing for the past 23 years.
I would advise to start the ball rolling with NNAS as soon as you can so you will have a better idea of where you stand.

highlandspirit

I did not realise the rules had changed. I guess I was lucky that we emigrated when we did. We felt the process took a long time, but in reality we were here pretty fast. If I had come and sit the nursing exam and applied sooner for immigration than we did then we may have been here within a year. Nurses were also on the short list of most wanted at that time and Nova Scotia had a big shortage. Lucky all round I guess.... phew!

caleo

My hubby is from NS - and we were looking at me moving to NS in 2004/5. My daughter was only 10, and so hubby settled in the UK. We always knew would eventually settle in Canada - but I wish we had done it when things were easier for RNs.