I moved to Canada as a nurse!!!!!

[NataliaK]

Originally I am from Russia but I received my Associate of nursing degree in USA. After graduation from Denver School of Nursing, Colorado I had been working as a registered nurse (RN) for almost one year.

I really liked to live and work in USA. But unfortunately I was urged to move from USA due to the fact that I did not have bachelor of Nursing and with ASN I could not get my US work visa. It is funny to see all these ads after that claiming that USA needs nurses. May be it does but it is very difficult for foreign nationality to stay in USA.

So I have less than 6 months to find a good alternative for my US nursing job. Canada was the first on my mind.

There is a flood of information on Internet but it takes forever to read through all these governmental websites trying to decide what province of Canada I am suitable best and I did not really care what part of Canada to go. All Canadian provinces have their own requirements for licensing of foreign nurses. Now I know that they are pretty much similar but at that time I did not know anything about nursing requirements in Canada. I choose Nova Scotia (Atlantic province of Canada) because I always wanted to live near the ocean.

I applied as a RN to the College of Registered Nurses of Nova Scotia to find out that my Associate of nursing degree from US is not enough to be registered as RN here in Canada. I was suggested to come to Halifax, Canada for assessment. For me it was simply impossible.

First I needed a Canadian visa and besides that I would not be able to return to USA (where I could officially stayed only for short 5 months) and I am not saying that it is a LOT of money to travel to Canada, staying in the hotel plus I still could not be sure how this assessment would go.

Close to a nervous breakdown I found a local consulting and recruitment agency for foreign-trained nurses in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I was suggested do apply as LPN to the College of Licensed Practical nurses of Nova Scotia. Thankfully my application was approved. I was offered a job by this recruitment agency (everything was FREE) and they found me a place to live in the apartment complex located on the territory of my future work. So it was really convenient. I did not need to buy a car right away everything was close.

So to summarize my experience: I started looking for the ways to go to Canada in October 2009. My RN application was refused in November. In December I applied as LPN and by April 2010 I was able to come to Canada. By the way my family came later.

I was just blown away by Canadian Hospitality. I was met at the airport by personal of the agency . They also helped me a lot during my first week in Canada plus found me place to live.

Some more interesting facts from my Canadian experience:

1/ It happened that I came already pregnant to Canada. To my big surprise I was eligible to have one year maternity leave after full time of work during my first 8 months in Canada.

2/ Being an American graduate I even was not asked to go through the Canadian Practical Nurse Registration Exam (CPNRE).

3/ I applied for permanent residency after one year of staying in Canada through Nova Scotia Nominee program though I am still waiting for it. Hope to receive it soon.

So it will be soon almost 2 years in Canada. It seems to me that People at work are more relaxed compare to US.

But I finally got use to this "Canadian slowness ". I love Canada:redbeathe and I think I found my new home.

[Silverdragon102, BSN]

Strangely enough Natalia hasn't been back since they posted their post back in 2011.

there are plenty of threads discussing how to move to Canada. If you wish for PR then the list opens June/July as RN is currently capped. TWP may be an option if you can find a employer but for that you will be required to have eligibility to sit CRNE by the provincial college.

Starting pointing is deciding which province you want to live and work in, applying to and meeting provincial college of RN requirements and then deciding on which route you want to use.

look on the process taking over 12 months

[abashed]

Hi, I have the same situation like you had. I want to live USA before they ask me to.I am graduating as a BSN this June and will love to move to Canada.Any ideas on how to apply to stay and work in Canada will be helpful.Thanks

[Silverdragon102, BSN]

abashed said:

Hi, I have the same situation like you had. I want to live USA before they ask me to.I am graduating as a BSN this June and will love to move to Canada.Any ideas on how to apply to stay and work in Canada will be helpful.Thanks

Look at my post above yours. There are many threads discussing the process but starting point will be deciding which province you wish to live and work in

[Fiona59]

abashed said:

Hi, I have the same situation like you had. I want to live USA before they ask me to.I am graduating as a BSN this June and will love to move to Canada.Any ideas on how to apply to stay and work in Canada will be helpful.Thanks

Canadians love knowing they are peoples second choice. Have you ever been here? Which part of the country do you want to live in? Why do want to move here? We are very different from Americans.

[abashed]

To work as a registered nurse.How does the process work any idea will help.Thanks

[abashed]

I want to live in Toronto Ontario.I have never been to Canada but have heard great things about Canada.How are you different/ thanks

[campbe11]

From an IEN's perspective (US citizen to AB, Canada) It is a long, complicated (as it should be), and expensive process. It is important to do your research, although the CIC website can be a bit confusing. There are Canadian consulates in some states that provide general information services if you need them. You could also try consulting an immigration lawyer if you can afford it. First, as Silverdragon102 mentioned, you need to decide what provence in Canada you would like to live in. You then need to apply to the nursing certification board in that provence in order to eventually sit for the exam and become licensed to work in that provence.

As Silverdragon102 also stated, there are a couple options you can try in order to enter Canada to work as an RN. However, some of these options are not available right now (a nurse is considered a 'federal skilled worker' and you cannot currently apply to obtain permanent residence and work as an RN because there are a limited amount of spots available for nurses emigrating to Canada - and they have reached that limit).

For myself, I am able to "move" to Alberta to work as an RN with a temporary foreign worker visa. I was able to go this route because I was able to find an employer to sponsor me into the country (a necessary part of being able to obtain the visa). The job market in Canada as a whole is not any better than that in the US (or so it seems). They will always hire their own before outsiders unless there is a special skill that is needed and cannot be found within their own provincial pool. I was also lucky as I am able to get a visa through NAFTA since I am a US citizen and nursing as a profession falls under the foreign trade agreement. It made things SLIGHTLY easier. All in all this has been a stressful, long (7 months and counting) process. Often I did not really know what I was doing, and there is a lot of conflicting information. Had I to do it over again, I would hire an immigration lawyer.

Hope this helps.

[abashed]

Thanks alot.That is helful information.

[Fiona59]

The Canadian government has launched an ad campaign telling prospective immigrants to stay away from immigration lawyers. To many promise the world, collect their fees and do zilch.

[campbe11]

I can understand how that could easily happen. For myself, I had friends who have had success with immigration lawyers and gave good references for them (although they were to expensive for me to afford at the time). If I had had the money I would have gone that route since they came w/ personal recommendations.

[Silverdragon102, BSN]

Going through the process at the moment all i can say is the paperwork and how to complete them on the cic website was easy and as long as you complete all forms as stated for the category you are going under you can do it yourself. What nurses who apply have to remember is a medical will be required regardless on route, this means whether PR or TWP a medical will be done. PR regardless on route and what skill you have a medical will be required

[campbe11]

has anyone had to be interviewed when they applied to for a twp or a pr visa? as a condition of getting a twp you need to prove that you will leave the country after your permit/visa expires. i can document that my family lives in the u.s., that i have a good relationship w/ my previous employer (whom i am leaving to go work in canada), and proof of funds but that's about it. if anyone has had any experience with this, what sort of documentation helps as "proof", and would like to share i would greatly appreciate it :)