looking migrate to Canada, HELP!!

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I am British nurse looking to go to Canada, Ontario to be precise. I can not find any agencies that help british nurses with the imigration process. There are so many agencies recruiting for american but very few for Canada. those that are available are only recruiting to Vancuver, british columbia and so on but as yet i havent found any for Totonto. If anybody has any ideas on how i can find a job and migrate to Toronto, i will be very grately. I have already sent my registration forms to the Ontario College of Nurses and i am awaiting a reply. Any ideas guys????

By the way before I forget, please do not try to obtain your RN or LPN license in other provinces like BC, AB, or QC. Chances are, you will redo everything again once you want to settle in Ontario. I think (though I am still searching this on the internet), other provinces recognize Ontario RN or RPN but not the other way around. I know I have read it somewhere but you can help me out here. For starter here is the link from CNO about registration policy http://www.cno.org/reg/index.htm.

Ontario requires the four year degree for initial licensure. The others do not, therefore Ontario will not accept the license from there. Each province is like its own state or country, and can set whatever rules that they wish.

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Hi there,

Let me first of all tell you alittle about me. I am RN BSN schooled and trained in the U.S. I recently married a French Canadian and moved to Quebec, specifically the Outaouais region (Ottawa/Quebec). I am not going to lie, I would have much rather stayed in the U.S. (Texas) to practice because I liked my job and my field (neonatal) is much more in demand there. However, due to circumstances with my husband's job I felt it would be better for me to move to Canada (I can be a nurse anywhere right?) Back then I did not know that I would have to do EVERYTHING (taking the nursing boards specifically) all over so I emailed the recruiter at CHEO (Childrens Hospital of Eastern Ontario) and sent my resume which only consisted of my nursing school training and my 2 years experience in the NICU at Texas Children's Hospital (nowhere near as extensive as yours might be after 7 or 8 years). I got a call within a few weeks by the recruiter herself saying she was interested in meeting me if I could fly in from Texas for an interview. They seemed pretty eager. Unfortunately at the time I was not yet prepared. I had not taken the CRNE, not even applied for registration yet, not to mention I had only begun to apply for permanent residency (a requirement to be licensed in Ontario), which, by the way, takes some time. Considering that I was not prepared at all, I was obviously not able to work for them at the time. But I can say pretty confidently that had I been licensed by Ontario and been a permanent residency at the time (even if I had JUST BEEN licensed for 1 -2 weeks) I would be working at CHEO now.

Once I moved to Canada with my husband I got another call from CHEO within a month of arriving. It was the manager calling this time to see where I was in the process of applying for licensure. The manager told me that I would have been the first foreign trained nurse she would have hired so she does not know exactly how it works. But if I was not licensed yet, understandably, by law, I could not work.

So whats my point? It's ALL RELATIVE. DON'T LET OTHERS DISCOURAGE YOU!!! I have only applied or contacted one hospital so far, CHEO, and I got an almost immediate answer from them. I plan on reapplying there once I receive my permanent residency and I AM CONFIDENT I will have a job.

That being said, the system here in Canada is NOT that efficient which makes it a bit of a challenge. It is not that they don't want to hire foreign nurses, its that they are not yet well versed in the matter because the government seems to think its still not a big enough problem (all governments are blind) and therefore not facilitating the recruitment process. The best advice I can give you on the matter is to keep your job in the U.K., if you can, while applying from OUTSIDE Canada under the skilled worker class. You can also register with the college of nurses of Ontario from outside Canada and once your credentials have been recognized you can fly to Ontario to take your exam and if you pass (I am sure you will), all you have to do is wait alittle longer for your permanent residency card and start applying to the place of your choosing (yes I said the place fo your choosing). This way, you would not have lost a bunch of money to come here and sit on your butt doing nothing and stress out. It takes a lot of pressure off you. Trust me, if I had it to do over I would have taken the advice I just gave you.

Nursing career aside, I am sure you know that moving to another city or state (province) is already hard work, so I am sure you have imagined the hard work it would take to move to a different country. BUT it is NOT impossible. There are success stories out there, probably more that failures, its just not as easily broadcasted. Take care and good luck. If you have any specific questions please don't hesitate to PM me.

Sorry that was so long...

God Bless,

Caroline

Thank you, Caroline, for this post.

I've been trying to become a permanent resident of Canada for 2 years now. I've been engaged to a Canadian almost as long now, and sometimes I feel very discouraged about the situation. He was living temporarily in New Orleans when I met him and went back to Toronto just before the whole Katrina debacle in 2005 (his mother became ill). He had to stay in Toronto, so for the last two years I've been flying to Ontario every 3-4 months. It's emotionally draining. I'd love to just marry him and wait around for a year to become a permanent resident, but I can't just NOT WORK for an entire year. My goal was to be out of here by June of 2006 (beginning of hurricane season). Here I am, April 2007, the next hurricane season practically upon me. :o

This whole migration thing has been a real learning experience for me. I really feel for people who are in more dire straits than I am and are trying to migrate. It is nerve racking. If I didn't love him so much I'd give it up.

Anyway, your post gives me a bit of hope. Thanks.

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Control,

It can become very discouraging at times, especially when you miss your family and friends, and your job. But you HAVE to BELIEVE that things WILL get better. And once its over you will feel pretty empowered because this is not something people do everyday. I think if you can move to and settle in a new country, there's not a lot that you will say that you CAN'T do from that point on. On top of that your relationship will be stronger because of all you have been through to get together. Trust me! My husband and I were long distance for 6 years before we got married. It was no fun but I can honestly say we are closer now because of the things we have gone through. So keep that chin up sweetie and if have questions or just wanna vent I am just an email away. PM me for my email address.

Caroline

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Control,

It can become very discouraging at times, especially when you miss your family and friends, and your job. But you HAVE to BELIEVE that things WILL get better. And once its over you will feel pretty empowered because this is not something people do everyday. I think if you can move to and settle in a new country, there's not a lot that you will say that you CAN'T do from that point on. On top of that your relationship will be stronger because of all you have been through to get together. Trust me! My husband and I were long distance for 6 years before we got married. It was no fun but I can honestly say we are closer now because of the things we have gone through. So keep that chin up sweetie and if have questions or just wanna vent I am just an email away. PM me for my email address.

Caroline

Thanks, Caroline. I really appreciate the encouraging words.

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