rugbymum

As UK nurses you will probably not understand the concept of bumping that is mentioned above- I do as it happened to me! Put simply if someone who has worked in the same authority as you looses their job through something like cuts or redundancy they are given the details of everyone who has worked there who has less seniority (seniority is time worked for that particular authority and usually does not include any other province/ country /authority where you have worked) and can take their job, even if they have less experience in this field!
As for seniority - jobs, holidays and almost every other aspect of nursing is allocated in the basis of seniority. In theory you can get a job based on experience over seniority however in practice this does not often happen. This is not just a UK / Canada thing, I have friends and colleagues who have struggled with seniority who are Canadian born and bred but come in from another authority or province. This is union led so you have little to no recourse. I hope that this helps to put you in the picture.
Best wishes and good luck with your move.