JOB prospects for RNs in Toronto

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Hello guys,

I am a 25 yo, US nursing student entering my last year. I am very interested in relocating to Toronto. I know that there is nursing shortage in Ontario however it is unclear to me how the environment is up there. Is Overtime Available, what is the salary ranges, what are the job prospects for RNS with 1 year or less experience? Are there any particular hospitals that you would recommend to new RNs?

Thanks in advance! :)

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Med-Surg..

The first thing that you need to do is contact the CNO and have your education evaluated. Then you will have to write the CRNE which is offered three times per year. Ontario, as of 2004 requires a BScN for licensure as an RN.

As for nursing shortages, I think that term is used rather loosely, our hospitals are always short staffed but that is not because of not enough nurses, in every case, lately it is because of not enough government funding. There may be some cities with shortages but from what I have heard, most new nurses in the Toronto area are having a tough time finding full time work or even any work in some cases. To get somewhat of feel for this; check out the ONA website as it is the union for many RN's and it will give you a feel for what is going on here. I am not saying there are not jobs but there are a lot less than there were even a year ago. The recession has hit us hard here too.

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Thank you for your reply. I will have my BSN soon. Ok I will check out those sites. I am interested in moving to Toronto for a new city/place to be and live. There are alot of job opportunities where I am but the quality of life is not the best.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Med-Surg..

You could try calling some of the hospitals that you are interested in and see if they are hiring. Most as in almost all hospitals in the Toronto area are unionized and this means that you may need to acquire some seniority to obtain full time hours. Anyways, continue to research and best of luck to you.

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Thank you. Wow that is so weird that the hospitals do that. So I guess in order to survive economically one must have 2 part-time jobs.

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, PCVICU and peds oncology.

Yeah, pretty much. And that's not only in Ontario.

Toronto has a fairly high cost of living...

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Med-Surg..

Things have changed so much in the past year, it seems that I had heard up until last year that there were tons of jobs for nurses, so much so that people were able to choose. Not now though.

I think that new grad RN's are finding work in most cases, just maybe not full time right off or in the area that they want. I hope that this is the case in Alberta because if Alberta can't make it, the rest of Canada is doomed. JMO.

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, PCVICU and peds oncology.

linzz, we're all waiting for the other shoe to drop. Only about 30% of our 2009 grads have found jobs here. But Duckie is saying now that he might still buy out the folks who applied for voluntary exit so that he can hire more new grads. I can't see how that fits into his main goal, ensuring the biggest annual bonus he can scoop... and his first year of employment is soon coming to an end... but he's said it publicly so there must be a motive.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Med-Surg..

I am really hoping that duckman will loosen things up soon. All this cost cutting, it is going on here too, has to come to the point where the public will become very angry.

My spouse has waited seven months for knee surgery to date, with no end in site, meanwhile he is on a fairly big dose of celebrex. Hopefully he won't have any side effects, but it would be nice to get him off it.

So frustrating, I really wish duckman and our premier would migrate.

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