kamae

Look for courses that could lead to a career that is included in the NOC 0,A or B occupations so that you could use it to apply for immigration in the future. That way, you'll have another option other than RPN in order to qualify for immigration. You could search for those occupations online.. type in NOC 0, A and B occupations.

Hi val0922.. What do you mean by study plan? If you're an RN in the Philippines, you can go for the 1 yr RPN bridging course or take a different course that is offered to international students. As an RN in PH, you may qualify to take the RPN exam without having to take the program. I took the 2-yr RPN course for different reasons and you don't have to follow that path if what you're after is a work permit. I took the RPN exam even before I finished the course because I had a BSN and an Philippine RN license. I decided to finish the course regardless. Good luck and pm me if you want once you're able to.

Hi.. no, I wasn't questioned at all about that. I don't think it's an issue. :)

Hi Smith_RN, sorry it took me a year to reply. Hope you'll still be able to read this. The first thing you need to do is to take an English proficiency exam such as the IELTS. That's a requirement of any College or University in Canada for international students. The next step would be to choose a school that offers courses for international students. Once you receive an acceptance letter from the school, you can start processing your student visa. You don't need to hire an agency.. you can do it yourself. Here's a link to the instructions from the cic website:Get a study permit I wish you lots of luck. Contact me through allnurses if you have any other questions on this. :)

Hi.. I can't believe I started this thread 2 years ago.. been awhile. Yes, I took the RPN exam sept of last year and passed it. But to get my license, I need to finish this RPN course (because I graduated my BSN more than 3 years ago) and it serves as proof of English proficiency. I am graduating next week and then will be applying for my postgraduation work permit. Since I graduated a 2 year course, I may get a 3 year open work permit. I am to pass that work permit to CNO for them to complete my assessment for RPN. It is possible for you to take the student visa route.. but you need to graduate a course of at least a year in length (from what I recall) for you to qualify for a postgrad work permit. Ontario is the toughest when it comes to assessment of Internationally educated nurses. I suggest that you look into other provinces as well.

There are many other ways to migrate but I do not qualify for the others. I applied for RN at CNO already and I can bridge while on a student visa but it will take much longer and there is no assurance I'll be accepted at university. It's very complicated. I understand your confusion completely.

Hi asiole.. They're right, you don't need to take an RPN course anymore because a bachelor degree of nursing + having passed the licensure exam back home will already qualify you to take the RPN exam. The only reason I'm taking a PN course is because I would like to migrate here soon and the only way I can do that now is through the student visa route. I could have picked any other course because it isn't necessary to take the PN one, but this one is currently the most convenient for me. Since it is a 2- yr course, it will make me eligible for a 3 yr work permit after graduation (postgraduation work permit) and then give me a possibility to migrate once I have worked as a practical nurse for at least 1 year (Canadian experience class). There are many other courses to choose from so if you plan to take the student visa route as well, you can look into other courses. I am sticking to this course for my own reasons. The RN bridging program in Ontario for RNs from other countries with no experience is equivalent to 3 years. 1 year at a college (like the school I am in now) and 2 years in a University (like Ryerson or York for example). I am eligible to start a bridging to RN but I chose to pursue becoming an immigrant first and then maybe move to another province for the bridging program when the time comes because other provinces like Alberta, only take a year to bridge to RN regardless of your work experience. You can pm me if you have other questions. Best of luck to u.:)

I don't know dishes. It's a lot harder for us because of course, there will always be a preference to hire permanent residents rather than international students. This is a huge risk for most of us because a lot of money is involved for something that has no assurance whatsoever. We're just hoping for a positive outcome really. I for one do not think I can just come in as a student and expect to get a job right away when there are so many residents who don't have jobs. That's why I'm doing everything I possibly can right now to actually deserve to be hired someday in healthcare (if I'm lucky enough- again, I am well aware I won't be a priority). @vimge4: thanks a lot! do keep me posted.:)

Hi, Vimge4 and BryanWang: There is no issue with taking the exam. CNO will allow you to take the exam after you graduate an acceptable nursing program regardless of being an international student or not. I called them and also emailed them about the exam and the post-graduation work permit and their answer was that we should send them a copy of our post-graduation work permit to be submitted for approval. I have talked with the international office of my school and they have had plenty of nursing international students who did not have any problems registering with CNO and are now working as nurses in Ontario. But the post-graduation permit should be specified for work in healthcare since I think we'll need to go through a medical exam.

I'm glad to know I'm not alone.:) Thanks! I'll update you if I find out anything about it too. Good luck!:)

Hi there vimge4! :) I'm taking a PN program at Centennial College. I have a question for u, do you know if CNO would register us on a post-graduation work permit? It's just that one of their requirements is either you're a permanent resident or you have a valid work permit. So I'm not sure if the kind we're getting after graduation should be enough to register given we pass the exam of course. Best of luck to you too. I still got a long way to go though.. I'm still on my 1st month! .

PN is Practical Nurse here. How do I apply for one without conditions? Will there be an option wherein I can state I'd like to work in a healthcare setting? According to CNO, I can sit the exam for PN because of my RN degree back home..but I can only start working or be fully registered once I get a work permit. That's why I'm wondering if a post-graduate work permit would be sufficient for them to register me because that's the kind of permit I'll be getting after graduation. I am hoping I could work as a Personal support worker (PSW) when I get my off-campus work permit. I think it's another term for a nurse aide. I'm from the Philippines by the way. Thanks for the input. very helpful.:)

Thanks for the reply knina. Experience has been good so far. I'm taking a 2-year PN program here in Ontario but I'm still on my 1st month so I can't apply for an off-campus work permit till July. I have just been lucky to be granted a scholarship by someone in my family. I never thought of filing for taxes despite not working yet so thank you for that advice. To tell you the truth, I'm already an RN in my country so I am currently waiting for CNO's initial assessment to sit a PN exam. I am studying PN because I'm interested to get the post-graduate work permit which I need to be able to work here in the future. It was explained to me that that work permit will allow me to work for 2-3 years after graduation. I'm aware I could take the exam but afterwards, I'm not sure if the post-graduation work permit issued to me will be sufficient to register at CNO because one of the requirements is to show a proof that I am legally allowed to work here as a nurse. Is that the same case in Alberta? Thank you!

Hi there.. I'm on the same boat as you. I'm also studying nursing on a student visa in toronto ontario. After graduation, you do get to apply for a work permit which is valid for the number of yrs you studied.. it's called a post-gradiate work permit.:) Then I believe that that permit will allow CNO to register you given that you pass the exam. Gosh, this was all posted april of 2011. I hope you'd still reply though. Cheers! :)

Thanks. I called CNO and they told me that if I am able to prove my BSN degree in the Philippines (But I must have graduated in the last 5 years) then I will be eligible to take the Practical Nursing licensure exam. But they'll only be registering me once I have a status of having a work visa. I asked if work experience will be an issue, they told me that in my case, they will only be assessing my education (since I am a BSN graduate) and it is considered equivalent to PN. But the story changes if I graduated more than 5 years ago, that's when they will ask for work experience. At least that's what the customer rep told me. I also called saskatchewan and that is what they told me as well, except the customer rep said that they will issue a license if I pass the exam and it is up to whatever immigration status I have for me to be able to use my license to find a job. I don't know about other provinces though. With that, I have decided to change my course since I realized I no longer need the PN program to qualify for an examination. I'm still in the process of looking for a medical-related course.