just4

Thank you for providing an alternative view. I did move from a medical unit to ICU and I found the working conditions much better. Part of the reason is because the ICU manager does an excellent job. However I also found myself frustrated by many things in Quebec such as the refusal to grant me a full license until I passed the French test. I felt I could do better. I moved to another province where my Quebec conditional license was quickly converted to a full, unrestricted license. I also found myself with substantially higher pay with lots of overtime opportunities at double the pay (I was only getting 1.5X in Montreal), much better benefits which include an incredible pension plan, and lower taxes. My current employer also paid for 6 months of specialized full time ICU education where not only were all of my educational expenses paid, but I continued to draw my regular nursing salary while in school. Soon I will be entering a brand new ICU unit with the latest technology and supposedly one of the largest in Canada. I am not saying that everyone wil get all of what I have been able to get in the last couple of years. However my advice to those planning to relocate is to shop around and, before moving to Montreal/Quebec, look and compare other job opportunities. The rest of the country is totally anglophone and many places will appreciate your nursing skills without forcing French on you.

I think you are focusing too much on French and not enough on finding a job. Your best chances are with an English speaking hospital in Montreal such as Montreal General or Jewish Hospital. There are also agencies that can find work for you in nursing homes. Work with the OIIQ to get the necessary permit, which does NOT include French. You have 4 years from the time you get your license transferred as temporary to pass the French exam. Temporary means that you have to renew each year and have taken some French course in good faith to show you are making an effort to learn.

By now you probably should be getting a provisional work license but it probably take until next spring for them to allow you to take the full exam. The French language requirement is nonsense in the sense that you have 4 years to pass those exams, although you have to file a reapplication for your temporary license each year. The other provinces don't give a damn about French and will convert your temporary conditional Quebec license to a full, unconditional license.

I guess I am late to respond but this may help others. In a casual position the employer does not have to pay benefits and gets to try out your competence without committment. Personally I insisted on a full time position when I entered the BC nursing workforce, but I was in a specialized field (ICU with a Bac) so I am more in demand and able to negotiate. I have signed up in other hospitals for casual work because sometimes I want to make some extra money, but obviously I much prefer to work overtime at my hospital since it is paid double. ICU casual work seems to be in high demand and I often turn down work assignments.

I have worked in both places. Stay away from Montreal. Quebec has an enormous public debt and no money for health or anything else. There is corruption at every level of government (see the Mafia investigations and resignation of the mayors of Montreal and Laval). Taxes are the highest in Canada.

I would say that working a hospital in Montreal is challenging and will get worse both because there is an enormous budget deficit and because there is governmental corruption at all levels. The only place you might find relieve is if you transfer to a specialty unit such as ER or ICU where the nurse to patient ratio is much better but you end up doing CNA tasks yourself. I did som part time through agencies in nursing homes but the working conditions are no better, one nurse is responsible for a lot of residents. There is plenty of greener grass in other pastures so you really need to assess whether it is really worth it to sacrifice yourself for someone that is just a boyfriend.

PQ is Province of Quebec (sometimes QC). Don't confuse BA with BS. As with EE, you need to work towards a BS, specifically nursing. Forget about anything less, it would make you second class for the rest of your career. All provinces are moving towards a BSN requirement for nurses. Also, if your partner is going to get a PhD, you should at least get a full college degree as well. Get your base courses at a community college in the US and then get into an accelerated university nursing program in the US. McGill is overrated and has some requirements such a physics that are really not relevant to nursing. Take the USA NCLEX and get registered in a state, then move to Montreal, keeping in mind that the city and province are now in chaos due to student riots and nothing will be getting better for years. You will need to take a Quebec nursing test which will take two days instead of 2 hours, but which is actually easier than NCLEX. You will never be a "full" nurse in Quebec unless you get fluent in French, but you can take your limited license from Quebec and convert it to another Canadian provincial license if you got your degree in the USA . If you were to get a degree from McGill it would be more difficult to get another provincial license without passing a Canadian test (yes, it sounds incredible but true). Most likely you and your partner will discover the disadvantages of living in Quebec (high taxes, high cost of living, low wages, crumbling infrastructure) and opt for another province or another state in which to live.

Here is a current article which supports my experience of finding the cost of living in Montreal high. Quebec Could Soon Be Poorest Province

Realistically, I have not found Quebec cheap at all living there the last 2.5 years. I guess it all depends on the specific expenditures that you want to focus on. Take the yearly nursing license fees for instance. I think that they are about 175$ a year in Ontario, compared to 330$ in Quebec. You may find this article interesting Nurses fume over 23% hike in professional dues While newnurse2bjoan is probably right about cheaper child care, the mothers I have met found it incredibly difficult to find a public child care provider at the reduced rates. It's sort of like trying to find a family doctor when 2.5 million of the people in Quebec are desperately searching with you, and the province has not even set up a computerized waiting list so that those who have been looking for years have a chance...

Amy, I think you will find that the pay is lower in Quebec and the provincial income tax is quite a bit higher. You will be able to get a temporary Quebec nursing license based on your Ontario license. It will remain temporary for up to 4 years until you pass the French exam. The exam is composed of 4 parts (oral and written comprehension) and must be taken at least once a year to renew the yearly license. Many colleges (CEGEPs) offer courses especially for nurses to focus on the French technical terms. Here are the requirements for the French language Vivre en français - Membres des ordres professionnels - Table des matières Good luck, personally I found it all to be utter nonsense and left the province.

My own experience last year was not at all bad. I needed to move from Montreal to BC, but I opted to look for a job in Surrey which is only about 25 Km south of Vancouver. Vancouver is easily reached by Skytrain. I had a couple of years of hospital experience with the last 9 months in ICU. Anyway, I applied for my license in August and it took over a month for the OIIQ (Quebec nursing board) to send the BC board confirmation of my Quebec license. It only took a week for the BC board to issue a BC license once they received the Quebec documentation. You can pay for a 6 month license if you are unsure of your future prospects. I then started talking to recruiters for one of the major hospital organizations. I made it clear that I wanted a full time position, not a casual one. Of course I had very good grades from my university and very positive references from my Montreal manager. Within a month I was offered a full time ICU position in a local hospital with a base salary increase of about 20%. I don't really agree with those that claim that this area is much more costly. I am paying about the same rent as I was paying in Montreal but I have a much larger, newer, and nicer apartment. Food (particularly fruits and vegetables) is cheaper because much is locally grown. Also, there is plenty of opportunity to shop in Washington State where prices are even lower, and border guards are much more easy going than in Quebec. The only expensive item is car insurance if you have a vehicle. That by far is compensated by lots of overtime opportunity at double pay, while I was only getting time and a half in Quebec. The weather is a lot warmer, the scenery is beautiful, and the people are friendly. So, if you can get by for a while without a job, I would definitely say you should take a chance!

I have found that Amazon.com (USA) is much faster that the Canadian one, possibly because USA mail is generally faster as well. However, you should also look into Amazon UK.

In the USA you should be working towards a Bachelor of SCIENCE in Nursing, not another BA! I did and the OIIQ had no problem certifying my degree (it took 6 months and lots of paperwork). The Quebec exam is only once a year, so it could take you up to a year before you get fully licensed to practice. Even then you will get a provisional license valid for only one year. Within that year you will have to take a French course and pass a French competency exam. As already mentioned, you can repeat the process every year for up to 4 years. Note that the yearly nursing cost for a license in Canada is about 10 times higher than in the states.

Some of the information above is not accurate. I say this as an RN with a BSN in the USA and current license in one USA state and two diverse Canadian provinces. In some US states and some Canadian provinces (Quebec for example) you can get an RN license with just an associate degree. That is changing, most places and employers want a Bachelor now. Regardless, of the degree, in all cases there is a requirement that the state or provincial nursing regulating body assess your course of studies to see if it is relevant and current. I had no problems getting Quebec to validate my USA university studies. However, once that is done, you still have to pass the competency exam. For all USA states it is the NCLEX, for most Canadian provinces and territories it is the CRNE, except Quebec which has it's own unique two-day test.

My citizenship is not Canadian and the country in which I was educated is neither Canada nor the country of my birth. I have had a "limited" Quebec license for a couple of years because I have not pushed myself to learn French. I applied to the CRNBC for a license. It took a month for Quebec OIIQ to confirm I hold a Quebec license and even then it took an angry request to have it faxed (they make nurses pay almost 50$ for that "service"). Anyway, 3 days later CRNBC granted me a FULL license. This is one of the many reasons to move west...