Canadian RN licence in different provinces

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Apr 20, 2012

If CARNA required experience then all the newly-graduated nurses here would be out in the cold. CARNA requires that you have a clean record, pass the CRNE and maintain clinical competence once you're registered. If you're newly graduated then you don't need experience. Once you've been working as a nurse you're expected to submit proof that you've worked as an RN for a minimum of 1125 hours (approximately 60% of the number of hours a person would work in a year as a full-time employee) over the preceding 5 years. Obviously, that's not a requirement until you've been actually working for 5 years.

dianepono · Apr 25, 2012

Hi!I am a permanent resident here in Canada and I would like to ask if there are any provinces here in Canada which do not offer SEC assessment?I heard that CNO doesn't have SEC assessment.Is it true? I have 3 years experience as a nurse in the philippines.Thank you very much for your help..

Silverdragon102, BSN · Apr 25, 2012

Most provinces require some form of SEC these days but really you need to make your decision on where you want to live and work and meet their requirements

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Apr 25, 2012

Hi!I am a permanent resident here in Canada and I would like to ask if there are any provinces here in Canada which do not offer SEC assessment?I heard that CNO doesn't have SEC assessment.Is it true? I have 3 years experience as a nurse in the philippines.Thank you very much for your help...

Questions like this set off major alarm bells. I always find myself wondering what the person might be trying to hide, or whether there are competence issues that are going to be uncovered. Demonstrating and maintaining competency are professional responsibilities. Provinces don't "offer" SEC they require it as part of the assessment of eligibility for IENs whose educational documentation isn't concise enough to verify equivalence to Canadian education. Choosing a province to live in and practise nursing in based on whether or not one has to prove competence is not a good method. And being registered in one province where there is no SEC doesn't guarantee mobility in the future... any other province you might want to move to someday may require a SEC assessment based on their own criteria for registration. Why not just get it over with?

kirsten_d6 · Aug 16, 2012

Hi CarribRN! Are u now working as an RN in Manitoba or Alberta? I'm an IEN here in Manitoba but I'm planning to apply for registration in CNO. Can my application be processed even if I'm not there in Ontario? And another thing, is the process in CNO that you have mentioned back in 2011 is still the same process at present? Please advise me.

Thanks!

Silverdragon102, BSN · Aug 16, 2012

Hi CarribRN! Are u now working as an RN in Manitoba or Alberta? I'm an IEN here in Manitoba but I'm planning to apply for registration in CNO. Can my application be processed even if I'm not there in Ontario? And another thing, is the process in CNO that you have mentioned back in 2011 is still the same process at present? Please advise me.
Thanks!

Have you taken the time to read the CNO website and requirements and how to apply for registration if an IEN?

abo jad · Jan 19, 2016

i just came to canada as askilled worker immigrant . where i've got my RN degree from lebanon from Beirut Arab University with a good GPA and being the first of my class . i have 6 yrs experience in CCU/ICU also from the UN.am now in quebec and trying to equivalate my certificate but turned very difficult bcz am an english speaker and here they want french. so plz where i can have a short time equivelance and the best province to perform it.???????

Silverdragon102, BSN · Jan 19, 2016

Each province has their own requirements and processing times are roughly the same, anything from 8 months to 18 months as a rough guide. If looking to go to another province than Quebec you have to go through NNAS unless you have worked in another province first as a registered staff. There is no quick or easy way for IEN and I am sure some of the Canadian nurses will say the same for them when moving provinces. You need to decide where you want to register and start the process

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Jan 19, 2016

As Silverdragon102 has said, there is NO quick way to become registered anywhere in Canada. I'm curious why you are in QuÃ©bec... were you not informed that you'd need to be a fluent French speaker to work there? Who helped you with your applications for skilled worker status? You should already be well versed in what you need to do to become registered. I don't think it will be simple at all for you since you've likely been permitted to come to Canada by the QuÃ©bec government (rather than the federal government) and they do everything their own way there.

yra · Jul 19, 2023

Hi everyone, hope someone can help me. I am a registered nurse in the Philippines and currently living in Ontario, Canada. I am planning to take my NCLEX in Ontario this year, however, I'll be moving in Nova Scotia next year. If ever I successfully pass my NCLEX would I maybe able to use my license (which I am going to take in Ontario) in Nova Scotia?

hypnotizer90, BSN, RN · Jul 19, 2023

yra said:

Hi everyone, hope someone can help me. I am a registered nurse in the Philippines and currently living in Ontario, Canada. I am planning to take my NCLEX in Ontario this year, however, I'll be moving in Nova Scotia next year. If ever I successfully pass my NCLEX would I maybe able to use my license (which I am going to take in Ontario) in Nova Scotia?

You needed to apply for registration reciprocity or endorsement if you are registered with CNO as RN (after NCLEX) then wanted to move to Nova Scotia. That's what I did when I graduated from Ontario in 2019.

Nova Scotia also has now this "Nova Scotia's New Application Pathway for Nurses from Seven Countries."