Any Australian RN's gotten a Candian Visa?

Silverdragon102, BSN · Aug 14, 2011

Just to comment that you need to be general trained and I have seen a few Australian nurses have issues with the US which means it would be similar for Canada.

Depending on where in Canada you are looking will depend on whether experience is required as well as the route you plan on taking. If Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) route then experience (12 months full time) is required

Nattynu · Aug 14, 2011

Yes am general trained and every semester we do a month of clinical on the job type training in different areas of health care. This semester its Paediatrics, Mental Health and Medical Surgical.

Am hoping to move to Edmonton, Alberta.

It does sound like the easier option will be to wait an extra year..............get that 12 months of work experience behind me.......hoping to find someone on here who didn't but maybe they got lucky!

CarribRN · Aug 14, 2011

Submit your papers to CARNA for assessment. If they find you to be eligible to take the CRNE then take the exam. Once you passed the exam you can easily decide from there as to which path you would like to take to be able to work in Canada, either through migration under the Federal Skilled Worker in which case you would need to meet the required 67 points as well as the 1-yr continuous experience, or, try your luck in finding an employer who'd be willing to sponsor you for a work permit. The latter rarely happens these days (and I'm sure you will be told the same thing by many of the posters here, some will even say it is not happening at all) but there are still some who would do it, you just need to be patient in finding those employers. A friend of mine working in the MIddle East was just recently sponsored by a hospital in Alberta. Goodluck.

Fiona59 · Aug 14, 2011

I work in Edmonton. Haven't had new hire, Australasian nurse since late 2008. That was when the health authority went throught Australasia on a recruitment drive. All nurses that were hired had at least two years experience.

The majority were Kiwi's and most returned after their contracts were up. Missed the beaches, found our scheduling wasn't flexible enough for them, and the one I worked with told me she was looking at this as a working holiday.

Anybody that was sponsored by a hospital in Alberta recently must be incredibly specialized or willing to work in an extremely remote settlement because our provincial goverment had stated that hiring preference will be to locally eduated new grads or underemployed nurses. In fact, the only new hires I've seen where I work (and it's a major trauma centre) has been locally educated new grads.

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Aug 15, 2011

This thread is immigration-related, not Canadian-nurses'-issues related. It's being moved to the International forum where it belongs.

allnurses Guide · Aug 28, 2011

Trust me as a new grad RN you will have a steep enough learning curve without adding a new country, new drug names, new systems etc. I would think even 12 months experience was minimal. It's understandable to want to get on with it, but you need to be offering them something too, and becoming a safe practitioner happens by practising, not by getting your degree. Most of the learning happens in your grad year.