Hi,
I am a psychiatric nurse in UK, qualified one year. My wife is a general trained nurse and has been qualified 8 years. Loooking at relocating to Calgary.I understand that we both would need to sit exams in Alberta in order to be allowed to practice there as fully registered nurses and that we would have a time frame of 18 months in which to pass this exam with the possible addition of extra training for my wife to cover paeds etc.

My question is, how much could we expect to earn prior to passing the exams and will this be enough to live comfortably in Calgary(renting 3 bed house for us and our 2 young boys, 6 and 1 yrs) as we will not have a huge amount of money in the pot initially.

If anyone could recommend good family areas that aren't too expensive that'd be great too.
thanks a lot !

Do you already have PR or will you be trying to get a job offer and go over on a TWP?

Just wondering as for PR you'd have the 'proof of funds' amount which would at least keep you going for a while (although not long, see this thread for info! http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=735341).

If you're going on a TWP I'd aim for at least that amount anyway to keep you going.

Hopefully one of our lovely nurses in AB will be along shortly to answer your questions, best of luck.

Hi, thanks so much for your quick reply. Due to the demand for nurses I plan to organise a job offer first and go over on a TWP until we can sit the exams. From what I see, the "graduate psychiatric nurse" wage which I think would apply until passing the exam regardless of experience in the UK would work out around £18 per hour compared to UK NHS £10 per hour for newly qualified. If any psyc nurses could confirm this that'd be great. Also if any general nurses could chip in regarding the issue of needing experience in paeds and midwifery etc for general nurses? My wife has loads of experience but none in those areas. Is there a lower level nurse that she could work as until getting courses done and how much could she realistically earn doing that?

I think Im right in saying as nurses with job offers, we wouldn't need a specific amount in the bank although guidance on this and a realistic amount to think about would be fantastic. I believe relocation renumeration is sometimes offered for nurses?

Sorry, loads of questions, hope that's ok

It is a long process getting sorted with the college and if you haven't started the process I would start now as employers will not look at you without eligibility to sit exam if not already passed exam. I also doubt with many Canadian nurses struggling for work that you will get any relocation allowance

Another option for wife is to look at LPN, they may or may not accept her training. A few have gone the LPN route when issues have arose with the college and further training required

Have another read of the thread I linked to above, lots of people have given their moving costs in it so hopefully that will help.

all interesting thanks.

Just a quick reply but in our experience in BC (OH is a UK trained psych nurse) it is incredibly competitive to get a permanent job here. You wouldn't even get a look in for an interview for a badly paid job in the sticks, unless you can prove at the outset that (1) you have the right to live and work in Canada (2) your qualifications are recognised, usually involves some kind of expensive bridging programme (3) you have a minimum of 2yrs experience which includes hours in paeds, surgical etc as well as psych (4) you have passed your nursing exam in Canada.
Yes the pay is better but the cost of living is more.