gardengrower92

Hi there, I was fortunate that my university where I got my BSN did most of my work for me… they sent the course syllabi, in addition to the learning objectives and whatever else the NNAS said they required for their application… my school said they ended up sending over 300 pages of material! Per the NNAS, the more detail the better. Getting a comparable really comes down to how similar your school’s curricula is to Canada’s. Everyone school’s curricula will be different, so it’s kind of a guessing game as to whether your’s will be more similar to Canada’s than someone else’s. That being said, the US and Canada are pretty similar overall, so your chances are pretty good.

Hi LP2017. You should be able to get your nursing license transferred over to Canada and Australia without too much difficulty (just lots of patience and paperwork!). They have similar educational requirements (university degree, NCLEX, etc.) and of course no language barrier. You’ve probably heard though that being a nurse in another country besides the US has its disadvantages. In Canada for example, the biggest hospitals still have paper charting! Nurses are generally paid less, sometimes with more responsibility. Things like bedside report and in person shift handover are not standardized practices of care. Equipment is older and more outdated. There can be five people squished into one room (sometimes 6). Traditional bedside nurses are obligated to work both days and nights, usually four twelve hour shifts in a row which can be pretty grueling. I think international nursing can be a really cool experience, but important to realize how different it can be across countries. I wish I had known more going in!

Hey there! I did not end up needing to take the NCAS thank goodness.

I think the main thing for everyone on this thread is how you are going to get here in the first place... You will either need to get permanent residency or come on a spousal work visa (your spouse will need a work visa from their company and then you could come on an open work visa / work for any company you choose). Or get a RN work visa but as I have mentioned before I don't think there are any hospitals / agencies willing to do this. You'll need to figure that out first before anything else.

Hey TatianaL, thanks for checking back on this post! I did make it to Canada and currently do work as an RN in acute care in Vancouver BC. My permanent residency application is still pending (covid has significantly delayed their processing times), but as my husband was sponsored to work in Canada through his company (he works in marketing), I was also able to come to Canada to work on a spousal work visa while we wait for our permanent residency applications to be processed. A few things to note... I can pretty much confirm in Vancouver at least, that no employer will sponsor a RN to come over and work in Canada. Even in highly specialized positions like ICU/IMCU/ER/burn units, hospitals here will offer fellowships to train med surg RNs into those roles, rather than import someone from the US who already has the experience. I also do work both night and day shift during the week. The standard is two days and then two nights (no break in between), and then you're off for 4-5 days before repeating. Pay is also standardized, I believe all hospitals (and maybe even clinics), offer nurses the exact same pay rate based on the number of years they have worked as an RN (as laid out by the nurses' union in Vancouver). If you have four years of experience for example, your pay would be around $40/hr CAD ($33/hr USD). Hope that helps! Let me know if you have any other questions!

Pretty much all work visas seem to involve getting an employer to sponsor you. With Canada not really having a shortage of nurses, they don’t have an incentive to bring someone over / sponsor them. I have yet to find an employer willing to sponsor a work visa for an RN, even in a highly specialized area. My suggestion would be to go for permanent residency, which would then allow you to work there once you’ve moved to Canada and gotten your permanent residency card.

Yeah, I agree with dayandnight. The NNAS process alone (after you've gathered and submitted all your documents to them) will take about three months, and then you still have to apply to the province(s) of your choice and wait to hear back from them on the next steps. Also if you want to work in Canada as an RN, you'll have to go and get a work visa or apply for residency, both of which also take forever. So better to start a job now while you're figuring everything out.

If the regulatory body you applied to were to find, after reviewing the NNAS report and other supporting documents submitted to them, that you did not meet their standards, they would require you to take another test, the NCAS. You would still need to take this test even if you took the NCLEX but the NNAS found you to be not comparable, or your regulatory body for some reason had an issue with your course content / application. For example in terms of British Columbia, it lists on their website: "Most internationally-educated nurses are directed to the Nursing Competency Assessment Service (NCAS) which measures an applicant's entry-level competencies as compared to a new Canadian graduate. All applicants must demonstrate entry-level competencies, including those who have engaged in specialized practice." I am hoping since my NNAS came back as comparable I would not have to do this, however this is not a guarantee (you do not immediately get a Canadian RN license once you've finished the NNAS, you still need to then apply to the regulatory board of your choosing and see what they say). So I'm keeping my fingers crossed for now. If you're really worried about meeting Canada's competencies but have not yet started nursing school, have you considered just applying to nursing school in Canada? That would make your life a whole lot easier (and something I wish I'd done back in the day!)

Hey! I went to University of Portland school of nursing. Although I hesitate to make any definitive statements as I have not yet gotten my Canadian nursing license yet (still a chance I might need to take the NCAS), and even though I got an overall comparable, there were still certain areas where I got a ´somewhat comparable’ and ‘not comparable.’

When I applied there was a section in which you could write out why you thought you should be exempt from needing to take the IELTS. So technically on a case by case basis.

I have a BSN. I'm not sure about ASN but I think you would probably want the BSN (especially if what lucydog14 is saying is true). Reading other posts out there about the NNAS experience, I've even heard of BSN nurses being deemed not compatible. It seems like a lot depends on your school and your program, and how closely their curriculum fits with Canada's standards. For the NNAS my school ended up sending them over 300 pages of course syllabi / course objectives for them to make the comparison.

Re icecreamdreams: I cannot believe I'm saying this, but I'm still waiting to get my license transferred over to British Columbia! The crazy part is, it's my board of nursing here in Oregon that are holding things up! They have decided to more or less shut down during the pandemic (don't answer the phone anymore, only email, no in person visits), and it has taken me three months of bugging them to get them to mail the correct form (first time they mailed an incomplete one). I'm hoping to get an answer soon though, now that I think they've finally mailed the right form this last week. I'll keep you posted!

Hey there rssb13! You'll have to start with submitting an application to the NNAS for British Columbia. After they deem your degree comparable or not comparable with a Canada RN license, you can then submit an application directly to the British Columbia College of Nurses. Let me know if this helps!

Hey, thanks for your response! I'm not looking forward to having to do both day and night shift (that must be awful, switching back and forth). Working with LPNs sounds like it could be nice though! Good news is that my NNAS did come back as comparable (it is possible!), so now I've moved on to applying with the BC College of nursing. They say it takes about 3 weeks for that process, but with covid I'm sure it may take longer. Still crossing my fingers I don't have to take the NCAS!

Hey! I applied to British Columbia, but mostly because their nursing board was the only one that was really responsive- definitely not wedded to any specific Province in particular? Any suggestions? Thanks again!