Nursing student in US, but want to work in Canada

CanadianRN16 · Oct 11, 2016

There's no Canadian NCLEX, it's the same exam . As an American citizen in Canada who has taken the NCLEX, there's minimal barriers to me obtaining licensure in the US.

The easiest way in the country is to apply for school. If I were you, I'd contact the programs you're interested in and see if you could qualify with a US degree.

In order to qualify for NP programs in Ontario, you need at least 2 years of work experience in a related area for the three accredited streams (or an A-/A GPA).

dishes, BSN, RN · Oct 11, 2016

If you hope to work in Ontario as a RN, your best route is to take your nursing education in Canada. As an internationally educated nurse, you will have to have your education assessed by NNAS before applying to the College of Nurses of Ontario and it is very likely that your US BSN education will be deemed 'not comparable' or 'somewhat comparable' to a Canadian BSN. If you have experience working as a RN you may be allowed to undergo further competency assessment such as IENCAP/OSCE, after which you may be required to undergo further education. You can use the search tool in the top right hand corner to find other Canadians who obtained US education and experienced difficulty trying to become licensed in Ontario (search 'NNAS experience' to get started)

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Oct 12, 2016

Moved to the Nursing in Canada forum for more feedback.

dayandnight · Oct 12, 2016

the only issue is that Canadian RN programs are 4 years, not 2. Unless you already have a Bachelor's, there are no accelerated programs you can take in Canada which means you will have to go to school for another 4 years, OR you can try to transfer your license over from the states through NNAS. Chances are 2 years nursing education will not be comparable to Canadian education (all international grads have a lot of problems and hard times with NNAS now with education assessment, including american-educated graduates) and you will probably need to take OSCE in Ontario to test your skills and knowledge of nursing. If you don't do well on OSCE, unlike other provinces where refresher courses are 1 year to 18 months max, in Ontario you have to take the whole 2 years refresher I believe... I guess in a way that is like finishing up your school education. The offside is that you won't get a BSN thru the refreshers. I recommend taking your RN to BSN in the states or else it will be a long roundabout path in Canada

loriangel14, RN · Oct 24, 2016

If you come to Canada you would likely have to do the degree from the beginning.

joanna73, BSN, RN · Oct 24, 2016

Agreed. ADN recent grads are not deemed eligible to practice as RNs in Canada. I have heard of ADN RNs who had years of specialty practice granted an RN permit in the past, but not new graduates.

sdg13 · Oct 29, 2016

If you are still 2 years away from your associate degree in the US, sounds like you still have at least 3-4 years to go anyway to get a BSN. I suggest to apply to BScN programs in Ontario. That way, you are guaranteed to be eligible to take the NCLEX-RN when you are finished. If you do your education in the US, you will have to go through a long and grueling process with the College of Nurses Ontario (took over a year for them to assess mine), who may or may not accept your education. I am licensed in two states in the US as a practical nurse and have over 10 years working experience, but the CNO did not accept my education because I went to nursing school when it was a one year program and now it is two. I am currently in my first semester of a practical nursing program in Ontario. I have 3 more semesters and a consolidation to get through before I can be a practical nurse here. After my experience, I would urge you not to take the risk of doing your education in the US. It seems like it will take the same amount of time for you either way. Alternatively, you stand a good chance of working as a practical nurse in Ontario with your associate degree, but it sounds like you really want to be an RN. Good luck!

RN_Pro · Nov 5, 2016

I agree with everyone here who has suggested you get your BScN in Canada. Honestly, save yourself the hassle (and the humiliation) of having to prove you are a competent nurse who meets Canadian entry to practice requirements.

Let's pretend for a second that you did decide to complete your nursing education in the United States:

Even if you get a 4 year BSN in the US, you will have to get your credentials assessed by NNAS. The assessment is essentially designed to keep all foreign educated nurses out of Canada (and leave them with no choice but to become an RPN eventually, which is fine, except for the fact that you went to school because you wanted to be a nurse, if you wanted to be a RPN you would have went to school for that). The NNAS assessment is completed by non-nurses who go through your course syllabi and basically match key terms word for word with the Canadian standards. If the terms aren't verbatim, they are 'non-comparable' to RN, and only sometimes they are 'somewhat comparable' to RPN. At the end of the whole huge process of getting together all of your course syllabi, paying the $650 USD and waiting for the report back from NNAS, you will receive a cheerful email saying "Congratulations! Your NNAS Advisory Report is ready!" And then you will open the report and every competency will be deemed 'non-comparable' to Canadian standards. Then you will have to pay a fee to get a registration number with the provincial board of nursing you are applying to in Canada, and they will tell you that your education isn't equivalent, and you (likely in your case because it would be an American education) and you have to take the IENCAP exam. If you can get an exam date (which could take 6 months- 1 year), the pass rate is low. Even if you pass there is no guarantee they won't send you back to school instead of licensing you. But, they won't tell you which courses will fulfill the competencies that you are 'lacking' on. So, you'll have to figure that out and hope they accept them after you have already taken them. If they suggest a bridge program, there are only 50 spots per year so no guarantees there.

Now let's pretend you did a BScN in Canada:

You would complete the 4 year degree (potentially getting credit for a few courses you have already taken. Might not happen, but also it is possible and would be a bonus). Then you would write NCLEX-RN (the tests do not differ between US and Canada). If you pass NCLEX-RN you would write the jurisprudence exam which everyone who becomes registered in Ontario has to write. After that, as long as you are legally able to work in Canada and all of those obvious things, you can apply for your nursing license. Easy peasy.

Please save yourself from the stress!

And yes, an Associates degree won't count for much in Canada. Just being honest.

loriangel14, RN · Nov 5, 2016

Excuse me but RPNs ARE nurses. How insulting.

Pepper The Cat, BSN, RN · Nov 5, 2016

Excuse me but RPNs ARE nurses. How insulting.

i work with both RNs and RPNs. Everyone is a nurse and there are many cases where I would take an RPN over certain RNs.

RN_Pro · Nov 6, 2016

Obviously you all know what I meant: I meant RN. When I said "nurse" I meant RN. By law, practical nurses must have the word "practical" in the title. Nowhere did I say RPN's weren't nurses, just deciphering between the two titles to make my point. Of course I work with RPN's and we are a team, and everyone is equally valuable to the team.

The point of my post was to help this individual make an informed decision about where she should study and what the likely outcomes are or each scenario. I hope the information is helpful.