Nursing in Canada

Husband and I are interested in moving to Canada. Any nurses on the Board who live there and could tell me what nursing in like in Canada and what if any opportunities are available? I am an RN with over twenty years of experience. Prefer Long Term care but am experienced in many areas.

There are many oppertunities in Canada just depends on what you are looking for. If you are interested in long term care you will have no problem finding a job! RN's are gradually being replaced with LPN's in LTC facilities but RN's are now talking charge nurse roles instead. Canada is a beautiful place with many oppertunities. It is diverse it just depends on what you are interested in persuing. If you love nature and water the Queen Charlotte Islands off the coast of BC are beautiful or are you a city type girl? I have lived on Vancouver Island off BC all of my life and there is still so much I have not experienced here! As for the nursing part of it, it is great. Health care is acessable to anyone who needs it, you don't have to worry about if the pt can affort it or not. Like nursing anywhere there are politics and always someting someone does not like. I myself am looking to explore and try other countries out but all I know is that I will definatly come back! Hope this helps.

we_rn,

I've moved this to the Canadian Nursing, as I think you'll get better responses.

Where are you interested in living? It's a big country, so it can be hard to generalize:)

Husband and I are interested in living somewhere near a large university. Husband is a retired academic. We both love the stimulation of being near an academic setting. We also are interested in living in as diverse a location as possible. We love the arts and culture and are very much a couple of book worms.

Well then welcome to Toronto. Most diverse city in the world, several universities and lots of jobs. You can contact the College of Nurses of Ontario to get info on registering and http://www.hospitalsoup.com has links to Canadian hospitals.

You might also like Victoria, BC. Smaller, but waaaaaaayyyyy nicer weather! And lots of old folks retire there, so LTC should be a snap to find! If you're interested in that, you'd have to register with RNABC. http://www.rnabc.ca or http://www.rnabc.org I think....

Come to Canada! I love living here more every year, especially after living overseas for a year.

The only thing I would caution you about is that some provinces require BScN for entry-to-practice (I think Ontario and BC, and maybe some others).

Good luck!

Thanks for all of the information on Canada. I will contact the nursing board re. taking the licencing exams needed to practice. Husband and I plan a visit to Toronto this summer. Moving to a new country is a challenge but we are looking forward to it. Thanks again.

we_rn,

If you are coming to the Toronto area, look also to places just outside Toronto such as Guelph and Kitchener. Both have very highly rated Universities and the cost of living is lower than the city, but close enough to Toronto to take advantage of all the big city has to offer. I could also arrange for you to visit some LTC facilities here if you are interested. PM me.

we_rn,

If you are coming to the Toronto area, look also to places just outside Toronto such as Guelph and Kitchener. Both have very highly rated Universities and the cost of living is lower than the city, but close enough to Toronto to take advantage of all the big city has to offer. I could also arrange for you to visit some LTC facilities here if you are interested. PM me.

Wow thanks for the offer I may take you up on that when we are closer to making the move. I will check on the net for imfo on the two cities you mentioned and maybe arrange for a visit. Again thanks much.

Also think of Peterborough, the "nursing home capital of Ontario", it's not far from Toronto either. It's a beautiful small city with a university, college, and lots of greenspace.

Or Oshawa. There's a new university there, a well established college and it's even closer to TO.

Good luck!

Canada is a lovely country, but the immigration is such a bother. I thought it would not be hard to emigrate there if one was an RN, but I have heard that there are not enough permanent jobs for immigrants and there are only temp/agency work and Ontario was only taking BSN's.

I thought being from the US, or being from the UK would be an advantage to relocating there, but I have heard different. You would think due to the nursing shortage that Canada would be recruiting like mad to the US and UK, but the immigration redtape and opportunities for stability seem to be lacking.

Am I wrong?

Believe me, immigration is a pain everywhere! For American trained nurses with a BSN, NAFTA allows them to immigrate fairly painlessly, but it still takes a few months.