American RN looking to move to Toronto

dayandnight · Jul 12, 2016

THere are a couple threads here regarding American RNs trying to get their licenses in Canada.

The most important thing is to check out NNAS website and also CNO since you are moving to Ontario. NNAS is where you actually apply for license and after they evaluate your documents they will let CNO finish the processing. All this roughly takes up to a year (or least it did for me as a previous US RN and for other foreign international graduates it took a year or longer)

dishes, BSN, RN · Jul 12, 2016

First step is as companisbiki said have your education evaluated through NNAS. Do you have legal rights to work in Canada? A social insurance number? Permanent residence status?

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Jul 12, 2016

As companisbiki and dishes have suggested, it's not as simple as it sounds. But I would say the process in Canada is actually quicker and easier than the reverse, given the recent changes to Canada's immigration regulations. My daughter, a board-certified cytogeneticist, has been living and working in Illinois for 2 1/2 years on a TN visa after jumping through all those hoops, as well as writing her US certification exams. That process took her approximately a year. She was actively recruited and is married to and parent of US citizens. She began her green card application at the beginning of this year and is only about halfway down the road with it. The wait is predicted to be another 5 months. In the meantime she cannot come to Canada to visit us. There are no such prohibitions on people awaiting permanent residency here.

The other part of your situation is the employment piece. Toronto is one of the most popular destinations for immigrants in the country. Ontario is in deep economic trouble and health care in Canada is a government program administered by the province. So although there may be vacant nursing jobs in Toronto that doesn't mean they're being filled, even highly-specialized ones. So make sure all of your ducks are in a row from the beginning so you don't end up sandbagged at every turn.

madricka, BSN, RN · Jul 13, 2016

I can't touch on the details about licensing in Canada but I can answer your question about hospitals (if you wanted to research them). If you're looking to stick with ER/trauma, the 2 main trauma hospitals are Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre (also has the regional burn unit, is the largest/busiest trauma centre in Canada) & St. Michael's Hospital (downtown Toronto, sees a lot of action). There is only one Magnet hospital in Toronto (I think only one in Canada!): Mount Sinai (also downtown). If you're looking at paediatrics, Sick Kids Hospital is world-renowned for their programs. An oncology focus? Princess Margaret is your best bet. Heavy neuro/cardiac focus? A UHN hospital like Toronto General Hospital or Toronto Western Hospital. Most of these are located downtown (except Sunnybrook, it's slightly north-east).

As previous posters mentioned, it's difficult to find work here right now. You would be competing against a LOT of Canadian new grads (& experienced nurses) for those same positions. I would say be careful about putting all your eggs in one basket and counting on finding work right away -- even after all the immigration/licensing stuff.

joanna73, BSN, RN · Jul 13, 2016

Positions are filled internally first because nurses are unionized. You may have a long wait before securing full time permanent work, and Toronto is one of the toughest markets.

Fiona59 · Jul 14, 2016

Strange first post from someone who joined in 2012.

Trump or Clinton refugee?