Considering moving to Canada

[cmthmpsn]

Hello All, I'm new here on AN. I have lots and lots of questions, but first, let me introduce myself.

I'm American, and have worked as a CNA for 11 years. I have a Bachelor of Science in Liberal Arts/French Emphasis. I'm not young, prior to becoming a CNA, I pursued a career in the media for 10 years. I am wanting to become an RN, but because I am both older and already have one Bachelor's Degree, I will be applying to a local community college, just to get my ADN. Of course, with so many facilities here in the US now saying they will only hire BSNs, it looks like I will need to bridge over and get that degree, too. I also have checked the Canadian Nurses Association website, and it looks like all provinces except Quebec require a BSN. I really would like to start working as a RN before I turn 50, but I'll barely make that timeline, if I have to get my BSN first. I am also a member of the US Army (National Guard) and am using my veteran's benefits to pay for school, so I think I need to remain in the US for school. But, I am considering moving to Canada (BC) as I have a longtime special friend up there and would like to see him more often than once or twice a year.

Question 1: Are there any additional educational requirements, beyond what I would get in a US BSN program, that I would need to take before I could take the Canadian equivalent of the NCLEX?

Question 2: How easy is it to get a job in Canada? I am actually thinking of taking my PN-NCLEX after my first year of nursing school, so that I can increase my income. Are there very many LPN jobs in Canada? I would rather move up there in one year than wait four years to complete my BSN. I think I can still do US online bridge programs (paid with my veterans benefits) to go from my LPN to my BSN and live in Canada at the same time.

Question 3: Does anyone know how long the immigration process would take? It looks like I will most likely need to have a job offer in hand before I could get a work Visa. I'm sure employers wouldn't want to wait a huge long time after they offer me a job while I wade through the immigration red tape.

Question 4: Would it be easier to get an international job offer through a Travel Nurse agency than with a specific facility where I want to move?

Any other tips and advice will be most welcome.

Thanks,

Christina

[Fiona59]

In a nutshell, no.

BC is (depending on where) is nearly impossible to get a job in.

PN designation won't get you an employment visa

Canada doesn't really have "travel nurses". Registration in various provinces are very expensive. Nurses here don't hold multiple practice permits.

There is a lot of red tape and on the various threads here, we've heard it can take up to two years to get all the ducks in a row to work here.

The only suggestion I can think of is, if your "special friend" is romantic, marry him, that way you might be here in around a year and legally entitled to work but you'd still have to deal with the red tape of provincial colleges and speaking as someone who moved provinces, it took nearly six months to sort my permit out. So even marriage won't get it sorted out much faster.

[Silverdragon102, BSN]

LPN I would say wait until the new list comes out in a few months as LPN may or may not be on the list if it is all you need to do is find employer willing to go this route

[Fiona59]

LPN I would say wait until the new list comes out in a few months as LPN may or may not be on the list if it is all you need to do is find employer willing to go this route

BC has no demand for LPNs. The nursing market is saturated.

Capital Care here in Edmonton recently laid off over 40 LPNs and other staff from their Continuing Care Centres and have replaced nursing staff with "Care Assistants".

AHS is closing Transitional Care Units and displacing both R and L's.

The job market in western Canada isn't rosy.

The government, our primary employer is cutting back big time. Teachers and nurses maybe asked to take a 10% rollback in wages is the grapevine is to be believed.

[Silverdragon102, BSN]

I understand that Fiona however the list covers all provinces and if like last year only limited to 500 and once gone the only other way is employer sponsoring LPN/RN and for that a LMO will be required and the employer has to prove that they could not employ locally or even nationally as advert has to be advertised across provinces

[cmthmpsn]

Wow! It doesn't look good for getting a job up there, even if I do marry my special friend! But, I was hoping to be able to move up there and see if we really could be more than friends living in the same town and seeing each other regularly before marrying him. That is not what I wanted to hear. Salary isn't a huge issue, as long as it's a livable wage for me. And he makes a 6-figure salary in the oil industry, so if I marry him, salary still won't be a huge issue. Sounds like I need to drop a dollar in the lottery to have a chance of making it.