Is ADN acceptable in Canada?

suzanne4, RN · Apr 5, 2006

Is your ADN program in the US? If overseas, you will need the four year degree.

Many of the provinces want a four degree now. Depends on the province that you wish to work in. Also the immigration requirements, which can be different from the licensing requirements.

If you have a US passport, then you qualify for the NARTA TN Visa, without that you need to go thru the regualr immigration process, and that usually will require a four year degree for foreign nurses.

Can you be more specific as to where you wish to work?

berger · Apr 9, 2006

Hi Suzanne! Thanks for replying

I'm will be enrolling in a Philippine school but will be conferring my ADN course at one of the community colleges in California. In a sense, I will be a US graduate. My school said that since I will be a US graduate, the only exam I need to take is the NCLEX to be a RN in th US.

I'm taking this course in preparation for our migration to Canada, our family currently has a pending application for immigrant visa. I just want to make sure that my efforts wont go to waste and that this will also be recognized in Canada. We are planning to stay at Vancouver.

My plan is to take the ADN program and gain some experience in the US prior to moving to Canada. If time permits, I will try to study while working in the US so I can eventually get a BSN.

So I guess my my question is ... which will be better recognized in Canada:

1. Take 4 year BSN and be a philippine graduate and just wait for my canadian immigrant visa.

2. Take the 2 year ADN, be a US graduate and get some experience working in the US and possibly get a BSN in a US school.

Would really appreciate any advise on this. Thanks!

berger · Apr 9, 2006

Hi Suzanne,

First of all, I would like to thank you on behalf of the other people on this forum. I'm thankful that there are people like you who are very devoted to helping other nurses succeed. Kudos to you!

You mentioned in another forum that RNs with a tourist visa who apply directly at US hospitals will also have the same wait time/processing time for their papers. Is this also true if I graduate from a US school with a student visa? Will it also take that long to process my papers before I can start working?

I am kinda confused because I read somewhere that if you are a US graduate, some employers would even be be willing to hire you even if you are just about to sit or are waiting for the NCLEX.

suzanne4, RN · Apr 9, 2006

Not all provinces accept the ADN degree, some are now requiring the BSN for initial licensure. It will depend on where in Canada.

But the biggest question that I have for you; how are you currently attending school in the Philippines but will receive the ADN in the US? You need to do the complete program in the US, and be advised that there is a two year waiting list for most programs in CA. You have to complete a certain number of credits at a school for them to grant a degree to you. Not sure if you are aware of this or not.

If you are not already in the US, there are a sereis of pre-reqs that you need to complete for the ADN programs here, you will complete the ADN program here about the same time that you will complete the BSN in your country. A two year degree here is taking about 3 1/2 years to 4 years to complete.

fergus51 · Apr 9, 2006

It would be good for you to contact healthmatch and ask them http://www.healthmatchbc.org . BC now requires the BSN for their new nurses. I don't know how this affects foreign grads.

berger · Apr 9, 2006

The curriculum includes a final trimester which qualified students will spend at an affiliated Nursing school in the United States, finishing as U.S. Graduates. It has been granted affiliation status with a City College in California to offer part of its U.S. 2 - year nursing degree in the Philippines. We will study 20 months in the Philippines – 5 trimesters of 4 months each and spend the last trimester in the U.S. We become a U.S. Nursing graduate and automatically qualify for the NCLEX. No other examinations are needed to be licensed.

What are your thoughts?

Bicycleboy · Apr 17, 2006

I would be extremely cautious about getting educated elswhere then working in Canada. The government here encourages people with education by offerring them jobs, but in many cases they would have to take their whole education over again in the Candian system. I have met some very educated people, engineers, and teachers that are not qualified to work in Canada even though they have the education and degree to prove it. The Canadian government told these people that they can have jobs in Canada with thier credentials, but when they get here they tell the same people that they are no good. I think the exeption to this is if you were educated in the States or England. I have even heard that it is better to come to Canada uneducated because it is easier to get your degree than if you have a previous education

Of course I have not had to live in Canada as an imigarant so all I have is anecdotal evidence that I have heard first hand, as well this problem is addressed quite often on the news. As well I do not know how it applies to nurses that are educated elswhere. Things may have changed now that there is a new government but I am not sure.

texancanadian · Apr 22, 2006

Does Canada (specifically GTA, Ontario) have a bridging program where someone with an ADN from US and Permanant Rsidency in Canda can go back to school and get a BSN ?

Do you think they will recognise your ADN if you want to study further ? Are there programs out there for Canadian RN's who were diploma holders before the new minimum BSN rules came into effect to get BSN's ?

fergus51 · Apr 22, 2006

There are several bridge programs for diploma nurses to get BSNs. I don't know how ADN nurses would be accepted. You'd have to contact the schools. In the GTA, there are nursing programs at U of T, George Brown, Humber, etc. I'm sure a few of them would have that type of program.

berger · Apr 26, 2006

Does Canada (specifically GTA, Ontario) have a bridging program where someone with an ADN from US and Permanant Rsidency in Canda can go back to school and get a BSN ?
Do you think they will recognise your ADN if you want to study further ? Are there programs out there for Canadian RN's who were diploma holders before the new minimum BSN rules came into effect to get BSN's ?

This is also my question... If I have work experience in the US but I only have a ADN, will employers in Canada hire me if my plan is to finish the BSN while working for them?

NextSummer · May 4, 2006

Does Canada (specifically GTA, Ontario) have a bridging program where someone with an ADN from US and Permanant Rsidency in Canda can go back to school and get a BSN ?
Do you think they will recognise your ADN if you want to study further ? Are there programs out there for Canadian RN's who were diploma holders before the new minimum BSN rules came into effect to get BSN's ?

Check out York University's post-rn program for internationally educated nurses, although I am not sure whether the program will exist forever (I heard it's a pilot program.)

For your second question, I believe that if you are already registered with the College of Nurses of Ontario, you can go back to school (Ryerson and York in Toronto) and get your BScN (ie, RN license in Ontario is a requirement to be accepted to such programs). So, for your case, you wouldn't be able to study in RN-BSN programs, except for the above program at York.