Going into Canadian Nursing as an American.

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Does anyone know anything about being an American and transferring into the Canadian nursing system? Or been through it? I am having the most stressful time getting news about transferring and the differences in the school systems.

Here is why I ask. My boyfriend is Canadian and I am American, he is in Optometry school for the next 3 years and I just decided a year ago that I would for sure do this nursing major (after a long battle against it because it looked so intimidating). We will be getting married soon, and I don't want to put my career on hold and have to wait for him to finish in 3 years to just get started in nursing.

Any thoughts or suggestions? Really anything would help right now.

I have been told that people from the states have gotten a nursing degree from a commended school, and not been able to do anything with it up there. They have had to start over, even though they are qualified here. This is my fear (and makes no sense).

Right now, I am taking some pre-requisties to get into the nursing program at my school, but I probably won't end up applying to my school before things get rolling with him and I. The problem with that is that the school I have looked into in Ontario doesn't even do pre-requistes, but rather you apply right from high school. The school cannot tell me if they will exempt me from the same classes I have already taken or not.

At this point I am just lost in what I am supposed to do. I may end up having to start over 2-3 years of pre-requisties I have already finished because the school does not have the pre-requisite system. I feel like i am in a waiting game to see if all my hard work will even count, and hope that there is a better answer, but at this point this is all i know.

Also, I have to be a resident of the province to even apply to the RN program. I do not however to apply to the LPN program. So I am thinking this is the route to take for me...

Any thoughts or suggestions? Really anything would help right now.

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Specializes in Home Care.

I'm Canadian and had lived in Florida for many years. I got my LPN license in Florida and completed an AA degree while working towards RN. I decided to move back to Canada before completing RN. I applied to Alberta for my LPN license, they evaluated my credentials, issued me a temp license and I wrote the CPNRE. I looked into doing a bridging program here but many of my credits wouldn't be accepted.

My daughter in law moved to Alberta from Florida with an AS in nursing. She has applied for Alberta RN and must undergo SEC assessment which isnt unitl Feb 2013 and will take 5 days to complete. The processing time for her immigration and work permit is 9 months.

If you want to come to Canada as an RN then your should complete the BSN. You can look at each provinces nursing college (board) to see their requirements of IENs.

American colleges are cheaper than Canadian.

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Hi st3phani317,

I don't know anything about Americans transferring their credits over to Canadian schools, but I can I tell you that if you have a Bachelor's Degree in ANYTHING, you DON"T have to take 2-3 years of prerequisite courses to get into nursing. You can spend one year completing your prereqs and apply to accelerated nursing programs in Ontario (these programs are about 2 years).

If you don't have a Bachelor's but have 2 years worth of university credits, you can still apply to accelerated nursing programs.

I have a Bachelor's in Animation (totally NOT related to Nursing!), and I simply completed all of my prerequisites (Microbiology, Psychology, Statistics, Philosophy, Anatomy & Physio) in one year. It's do-able, you just have to study a lot!

While completing my prereqs, I applied to York University's accelerated nursing program....and I got in!!! I really didn't think I would have a chance but somehow I got in.

Accelerated programs also look at your cumulative GPA and your GPA in the last 5 full year courses. I didn't think my cumulative GPA would be high enough, but I did do really well in the prereq courses.

So my main point is, you don't need 2-3 years to complete your prereqs, and you don't have to apply directly from highschool.

I hope this info somewhat helps!

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Thank you for responding! It looks like it isn't too hard to transfer your degree from country to country then! That is great news. I am applying to Conestoga for my RPN which i think is a good route for me.

Are American colleges really cheaper?? The schools i've gone to already have been at least twice as more as in Canada!

Thanks!

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kaxmak,

It is great to hear you got in without any nursing background! I do have 2 years of university and am applying for the accelerated nursing program at Conestoga.

I definitely know a lot more now than i did when i wrote in June, which is such a relief... just lots of paperwork!!!

Thank you so much for your support!

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From what my friends have told me, many American Community Colleges are cheaper than our community colleges. The fees per credit hour are much lower. But I believe these are the public schools that are backlogged in the US.

Our universities are publicly funded which is why so many Canadians have issues with doctors and other professionals heading south. A large part of their education is publicly funded.

You will also find differences in education costs across the country. Quebec is far cheaper than Alberta or BC.

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Fiona59,

Yes our American community colleges are a bit cheaper, but i cannot believe the price differences in colleges and universities!

Thank you for your comments. I have seen a few of your post and know that you have a lot of information on Ontario colleges, I appreciate you posting and replying!

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