"Canadian" Based Travel Nurse Agencies

[Bamelin1]

Was going to put this in the Canadian forum or Travel Nurse Forum, however I thought that this may interest US and other international folks that are looking to work in Canada. Please move to right forum if it belongs somewhere else. EDIT: In retrospect this probaly should have gone into the Travel Nurse Forum, my apologies

My wife is an RN. We've talked about going to the States, but the big problem is that while I could travel with her I wouldn't be able to work while she is on assignment. My occupation doesn't fit the TN requirements unfortunately. This is a big consideration as whatever income increases she would "gain" doing Travel Nursing in the US, we would "lose" in my lost wages.

Canada has traditionally only had nursing agencies servicing very local areas. Agency nursing in Canada is different from Travel Nursing in that you don't travel anywhere. In general the nurses brought in are all local RN's, brought in by local agencies.

It appears though that Travel Nursing within Canada has now become a possible option ....

I did some research over the past two days and found 2 Canadian "Travel Nursing" companies. I believe both are very new (less than 2 years old maybe?) Both are based in British Columbia.

Solutions Staffing -- From what I understand they only service British Columbia, mostly rural areas.

Select Medical Connections -- I believe this company will allow for Travel Nursing anywhere in Canada, as well as the US. They have another site too: http://www.travelnurse.ca/

Both companies follow the American Travel Nursing model, ie. free accomodations, fly you in, provide advice and counsel on visa requirements/provincial liscensing requirments, etc. From what I have heard they pay around 42 - 50 bucks an hour (compared to 26 - 28/hr that 1st year nurses make on average in Canada).

Wife and I are considering both companies, as it means we won't have to deal with the hurdles Canadian nurses face like having to take the NCLEX-RN as well as the hassle of getting a TN. The big thing for us though, is that we could Travel within Canada and I would be able to go with her and have the option to work while she is on assignment.

This is also probaly something that might be interesting to US RN's who have want to work in Canada under a Canadian Travel Nurse agency.

As I mentioned before though, it appears both agencies are very new. I'm wondering if anyone has worked for them/knows much more about them? I'm basing most of the information above on the companies websites, and what little info google revealed. I'd like to know a little more before I contact them, if anyone has anything to share.

Anyways I thought this worth mentioning here, as I couldn't find any posts regarding Canadian based Travel Nursing companies.

[loriangel14, RN]

Your wife would not be able to work in either country without proper licensure. Most of Canada requires a BSN for licensure and each provinces has it's own licencing bodies so your wife would need to be licenced in each province she worked in. I don't believe she could work in the US without writing the NCLEX-RN.

[Bamelin1]

Your wife would not be able to work in either country without proper licensure. Most of Canada requires a BSN for licensure and each provinces has it's own licencing bodies so your wife would need to be licenced in each province she worked in. I don't believe she could work in the US without writing the NCLEX-RN.

My wife is liscensed in Ontario through the Ontario Nursing Assocation (she has a Bachelor of Nursing) and passed the CRNE back when she got that liscense. I believe the Canadian exam covers all provinces (except Quebec maybe). You are correct however that she will have to get liscenced in whatever province she chooses to travel to. The thing is though, getting that liscense really won't be a big deal (she won't have to take the CRNE again).

[loriangel14, RN]

In Ontario the College of Nurses of Ontario is the licensing body. Transferring her licence to another province will still involve assessment of her education, verification of the status of her license, citizenship and work permits, all costing a considerable amount of money and time.And she would have to go through this for each province.

[Bamelin1]

I was assuming (wrongly perhaps?) that the agency would help expediate this process? In terms of educational assessment I thought that holding an Ontario liscense was considered equivilant to another province liscense?

(you're right about the college btw ... I always get them mixed up, ONA, RNAO and CNO. We get too much mail =( )

I didn't think the verification process was that complicated, provided she has all her papers in order ... we're both Canadian citizens, so we won't have to worry about work permits or visas

[loriangel14, RN]

Each province has their own standards for practice so they each do their own assessments. Having a licence in Ontario doesn't mean automatic acceptance in another province. I have heard of many agencies claiming they can circumvent or take shortcuts to obtain a licence. This is not so, there are no short cuts. Be careful and best of luck to you and your wife. Let us know how it works out for you, I know many people would be interested in hearing about your experiences.

[suzanne4, RN]

There is no way to expedite any license in Canada, same way that one is not expedited in the US. The agencies have no control over anything with licensing, nor immigration. And they should not.

She is still going to need to go thru the licensing process for the new province; sure she does not need to write the CRNE again, but months can be involved in them getting their own evaluation done.

Best of luck to you.

[wadethebaddog]

Hi bamelin... do these agencies offer only travel nursing?? how long is your contract with them? how much are we supposed to spend? Thank you..

[suzanne4, RN]

Hi bamelin... do these agencies offer only travel nursing?? how long is your contract with them? how much are we supposed to spend? Thank you..

Any of this type of travel company requires that you have experience of at least two years or so working in that country before they can employ you. Same as with the travel companies in the US.

They also do not do anything as far as immigration either, but expect that you can legally work in the country and hold the proper documentation.

[wadethebaddog]

hi suzanne4, so these agencies cannot deploy nurses since they cannot do something with regard to immigration processing right?

[suzanne4, RN]

Exactly, they also require experience working in either the US or Canada first as well. You are expected to be able to function immediately without any orientation and fill in any gaps in their schedule where they need additional nursing staff.

This is not something that a foreign nurse would be hired for. You would also need to have passed the CRNE exam and have a visa to work there, they do not help with visas; you are expected to have at least landed immigrant status before they will take you, in addition to having the experience.