How long should I wait before contacting?

Nothing moves quickly over here, even given the desperate shortage some regions are experiencing. Simple transfers between departments take several weeks. A friend was offered a full time position in an inner-city CCU, but preferred a part-time spot that opened up a couple of weeks later. She applied, then waited four weeks to hear back about whether she'd get the position or not... and she was working as a casual in the CCU at the time, right there, in the room! Last year at this time I applied for a casual position in my local community hospital. I had an interview on February 13, and didn't hear anything about whether I'd gotten the job or not until the 18th of March.

There are so many layers of bureaucracy resulting in so many hands touching EVERY single piece of paper in the health regions it would boggle your mind. I wouldn't be surprised if you hear back in February that you're being offered a job. Managers here don't typically bother contacting references unless they're interested in you. In the Capital Health region in Alberta, managers have a checklist they have to follow for every hire, which includes speaking with the person's current supervisor, whether the applicant has included that person as a reference or not. (I have a friend in management in another department who shares this kind of info with me... and I see much more of my friend socially than I do of my own patient care manager, even though I work 70% FTE.) So if you're really wanting to come over here to work, be patient. They eventually will get back to you.

Hi, I'm new to the forum, and have 100% decided to apply to Canada first when I pass my NCLEX. I haven't seen a specific answer to this question: in which province would there be the fastest hire? And if it's Alberta or Saskatchewan, how could you (or could you?) overcome the lack of housing?

Thanks,

RGN1, it is a requirement that a person be licensed in their country of origin before they can be licensed in Canada. I wondered if anyone would catch that.

Rad Student, your question about housing is a very pertinent one. In the urban areas of both Alberta and more recently Saskatchewan, affordable housing is in very short supply. Unless one is moving from an area with higher housing prices and has property to sell there, it will be very hard to find a place to live. In the Edmonton area real estate prices have softened slightly in the last few months but are expected to surge again once the weather warms up. In Calgary and Fort McMurray there has been no slump at all. As for rentals, vacancy rates are really low and rent is really high and continually climbing with no rent controls in place. It isn't unusual to see stories in the paper talking about rent increases of 60% or more. Saskatoon and Regina have followed the pack, although not quite as bad yet as in Alberta. Rural areas are really no better. There are even fewer vacancies and as people have moved farther out, real estate costs have skyrocketed much in the way that the Greater Toronto or Vancouver Areas did a decade ago. A friend recently moved back to Canada from Texas and had a terrible time finding a home she could afford, even though she was willing to live an hour out of Edmonton. All that said, I'm not sure what advice to give you about finding housing. Sorry.