Best working conditions for English speaking nurses in Montreal?

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Hi there,

I am originally a nurse from the united states, a year ago I moved to Montreal where I work in one of the English operating hospitals. I have worked here for over a year a have had a bad experience. Don't get me wrong, the people I work with are amazing, it is true team work. But the working conditions are very bad compared to my other jobs I held in the States. Some of the issues: there is only one orderly for an entire unit, we usualy have to do everything ourselves; I am literally doing the job of a CNA and a nurse with a higher patient load. also, I only have half a break of what I'm entitled to get and it's so busy that we often have to work 30-45 minutes past our shift (we don't get payed for this time). Further we have to come in at least a half hour early (for free) just so that we can perform safe nursing care or otherwise I would leave even later. On top of this, we are literally running around the entire time, charting maybe consists of 30 minutes of the time. I have never worked as hard as this before. Many times when I come home my legs are swollen and I have ruptured blood vessels from being on my feet so intensely and so long. I was warned that Canadian nursing was not like the Sates. But maybe I'm just on a wrong unit or the wrong hospital?

I'm just curious about other people's experiences or maybe recommendations for other working situations here in Montreal for someone like me with very basic French.

Thanks!

Specializes in Medical unit and ICU.

I would say that working a hospital in Montreal is challenging and will get worse both because there is an enormous budget deficit and because there is governmental corruption at all levels. The only place you might find relieve is if you transfer to a specialty unit such as ER or ICU where the nurse to patient ratio is much better but you end up doing CNA tasks yourself. I did som part time through agencies in nursing homes but the working conditions are no better, one nurse is responsible for a lot of residents. There is plenty of greener grass in other pastures so you really need to assess whether it is really worth it to sacrifice yourself for someone that is just a boyfriend.

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I am just reading your post and it is 2014! I work in Montreal and I am anglophone, and even though my floor is busy, for the most part, about 95% of the time, we are able to take all of our breaks (15 mins morning break, an hour lunch, 45 mins supper for a 12 hour shift). When it gets too busy the head nurse and assistant head nurse help out on the floor. I have NEVER had to come in earlier to catch up on work. I have worked for almost 3 years and have only had to stay 30 mins later than I was suppose to about twice. I think you need to move to another floor if you have not already

2 Votes
Specializes in Medical unit and ICU.

Thank you for providing an alternative view. I did move from a medical unit to ICU and I found the working conditions much better. Part of the reason is because the ICU manager does an excellent job. However I also found myself frustrated by many things in Quebec such as the refusal to grant me a full license until I passed the French test. I felt I could do better. I moved to another province where my Quebec conditional license was quickly converted to a full, unrestricted license. I also found myself with substantially higher pay with lots of overtime opportunities at double the pay (I was only getting 1.5X in Montreal), much better benefits which include an incredible pension plan, and lower taxes. My current employer also paid for 6 months of specialized full time ICU education where not only were all of my educational expenses paid, but I continued to draw my regular nursing salary while in school. Soon I will be entering a brand new ICU unit with the latest technology and supposedly one of the largest in Canada. I am not saying that everyone wil get all of what I have been able to get in the last couple of years. However my advice to those planning to relocate is to shop around and, before moving to Montreal/Quebec, look and compare other job opportunities. The rest of the country is totally anglophone and many places will appreciate your nursing skills without forcing French on you.

1 Votes
Specializes in Med-Surg.

Honestly, I think it's like that in most Quebec hospitals. Work conditions are horrible, the unions are useless. All they are good for is collecting their fees every month. I think your best bet would be with the Children's hospital or Shriner's, they seemed to have best work conditions.

As far as agency work hours, last I checked, English hospitals weren't really using agencies.

1 Votes

Hello everybody,

I just arrived to Montreal and looking for a English hospital speaking, I am struggling to find any opportunity. Can I move from QC to any other provinces without a full registration from the OIIQ, I mean just passing the OIIQ exam. God bless you all.

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, PCVICU and peds oncology.
Hello everybody,

I just arrived to Montreal and looking for a English hospital speaking, I am struggling to find any opportunity. Can I move from QC to any other provinces without a full registration from the OIIQ, I mean just passing the OIIQ exam. God bless you all.

Your post begs the question... why are you even in Montréal if you have no French language skills? It wouldn't seem to be a person's first choice. If you entered Canada via the Quebec skilled workers program then you cannot just move somewhere else. But then if you were here under that program you would have had to provide proof of employment in Quebec - which you don't have, so I'm assuming that you aren't here via that program. I'm always amazed by people who jump off the cliff and try to build their parachute on the way down.

Passing the OIIQ exam will be considered equivalent to passing the CRNE in other provinces but you will still need to meet the minimum criteria for registration in those provinces, which means your education and experience must still be assessed. And you will still be required to obtain at least provisional registration in Quebec as your point of entry to the Canadian health care system.

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we are not entering the houses from their windows, and what we are doing is within the context of the rules and regulations of the country and will never ever violates that. Your answer is based in your assumptions, looking for English speaking hospital DOESNT mean that " I do not have French language skills". My question is clear but you didn't answer it. Thanks

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we are not entering the houses from their windows, and what we are doing is within the context of the rules and regulations of the country and will never ever violates that. Your answer is based in your assumptions, looking for English speaking hospital DOESNT mean that " I do not have French language skills". My question is clear but you didn't answer it. Thanks

Well from the structure of your post, English isn't your first language.

Nursing positions in any metropolitan area are hard to find. From what you said in your previous post you don't have a full practice permit. So no movement across the nation isn't going to be easy.

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I am just reading your post and it is 2014! I work in Montreal and I am anglophone, and even though my floor is busy, for the most part, about 95% of the time, we are able to take all of our breaks (15 mins morning break, an hour lunch, 45 mins supper for a 12 hour shift). When it gets too busy the head nurse and assistant head nurse help out on the floor. I have NEVER had to come in earlier to catch up on work. I have worked for almost 3 years and have only had to stay 30 mins later than I was suppose to about twice. I think you need to move to another floor if you have not already

hi! i just read your post, im moving to montreal this spring.. can u tell me how did u get into hospital there.. did u finished all your exams, registrations, etc thank you very much!

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, PCVICU and peds oncology.
hi! i just read your post, im moving to montreal this spring.. can u tell me how did u get into hospital there.. did u finished all your exams, registrations, etc thank you very much!

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Hey Blue-Sky!

You know, I was reading your post and all of this sounded familiar to me..... WAY to familiar. I believe that we worked together on this floor for a couple of months before you finally resigned. Is it possible that we are referring to an orthopedics unit ? Is it possible that your first name starts by the letter "A" ?

Anyways,

Everything you said is true, unfortunately. There will never be any changes done on this unit because with only 1 orderly and a couple of nurses, well at the end of shift the jobs GETS DONE. It might get done 1/2 assed or far below the lowest acceptable standard of care, but it doesn't matter, the upper management doesn't ass long as they discharge pts home and do so cases. I personally quit my position on this unit in february 2014, after 1 yr of service on the unit. And I will never go back. What's ironic though is that the team on that unit was amazing to work with... And I kinda feel bad for abandoning them :-(

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Hello, I apologize for the late response. If you are already a licensed nurse in Canada all you need to do is register in the province of Quebec. I had to also take the french exam to be fully licensed because I did not study in french but if you are already licensed in another province you may not have to. Contact the licensing board and they will give you more information. Good luck to you

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