RN with BSN interested in working (and possibly immigrating) in BC

dishes, BSN, RN · Aug 31, 2016

The first thing you will need to figure out is the licensing process in BC, start by applying to NNAS to have your education assessed for equivalency to a Canadian BSN.

jucicool · Aug 31, 2016

I am aware that there are a lot of hoops to jump through before becoming a licensed RN in BC. Before I go down the long road of figuring out the licensing process requirements I just wanted to get a ballpark idea of if it was even financially feasible for our family to live off of a BC RN salary. For reference, I am working as an RN in Dialysis nursing in Phoenix, AZ.

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Aug 31, 2016

Will you be the only income earner? With provision of a proper letter of portability (documenting your years of experience) you will be placed on the pay scale at a level commensurate with your experience, so you likely wouldn't start at the bottom. You could expect to be earning about $40 an hour base pay. There are areas of BC where a full time RN would be able to support a family, but they're generally not areas where most immigrants want to be. You will find the cost of living almost anywhere in BC to be higher than Phoenix. But on the up-side, your health insurance will be a lot cheaper!

jucicool · Aug 31, 2016

I would be the only income earner at first. So that is a concern. I am now the only income earner as my husband is a stay-at-home-dad for our 2 year old son. The big question though is if my husband could get sponsored to work also. He volunteered at a organization that helps people with developmental disabilities in Abbotsford, BC - and he's reasonably confident that he could get sponsored again by them or their parent organization which is rather large - for salaried work, not volunteer - the only problem is that this limits us to Abbotsford. If we landed outside of this city (which is likely), then I might need to be the only income earner for awhile. Would you have any idea how hard it would be for my husband to obtain work (outside of Abbotsford)? Would my anticipated work status as an IEN help him in any way obtain work? Or would he need to be sponsored or get a work permit for himself in another way? This would be our major concern if we moved. Thx for the advice everyone - it's very helpful! Ps. My husband and I love rural, more remote areas. So I think we could adapt to a move to this type of place at first. But the school systems there would maybe be an issue if they are not great for our 2 year old son.

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Aug 31, 2016

I don't think your status as an IEN would be beneficial for him. Not for immigration purposes nor for employment purposes. Nor would it necessarily be a detriment. You both will be individually responsible for ensuring you have the proper paperwork. In the days when Canada was actively recruiting IENs it was different; then spouses were provided with some assistance in obtaining documentation and employment. But those days are long over - you won't be sponsored for employment. Your situation is a fairly complex one. However, most of the larger towns and cities have some sort of supportive living programs for the developmentally disabled, so he may not have that much trouble finding work. There are also satellite dialysis units in many of the same communities.

jucicool · Aug 31, 2016

Thanks for the tip about my husband í ½í± Generally speaking would he need to be sponsored to be employed at a program for the developmentally disabled? We just have no idea where to start in terms of figuring out how he can legally work in this line of work in Canada. We are also wondering if it would be prohibitively hard for him to go through all the separate hoops to be employed working with people with developmental disabilities. Any advice for my husband?

Silverdragon102, BSN · Aug 31, 2016

Which route are you planning on coming to the country with? TWP? PR? If RN comes under skilled still then he can get a work permit based on you if you are the main applicant. PR can be done before you arrive is you come the skilled route and again if he is included on your application he will get PR and can work without requiring a sponsor or employer

dayandnight · Sep 1, 2016

I think I talked to you before but it's important to get the Immigration part figured out before moving to any country. It will be much better for you to have the US citizenship due to the fact that if you do get a job offer somehow you could easily get a 3 year working permit (TN visa) and that would solve the visa problem for both you and your husband. Expect licensing process to take at least 1 year for all the document processing, with possible SEC exam testing and with a rare chance, a refresher course. It will depend on whether you obtained your BSN in the USA or Korea. If you did get your BSN in Korea you will definitely need to take the SEC exam since Korean nursing education is not comparable here in Canada. With the SEC result you will need to take a refresher program or at least 3 month clinical/theory refresher through Kwantlen University. The other issue with the refresher course is that it is only offered in that area in BC so you will at least need to live in Abbotsford or 1 hr from there to do your clinicals if you get in. Figure out the US citizenship first, then start gathering school and work documentation and start applying NNAS. Your husband and you will need to find ways to immigrate in Canada. There are not that many ways for nurses to immigrate in Canada anymore. It will be better if you or your spouse can get TN visa because the only other way is to go to school here again to get work visas

I don't know about your husband's job but does he have specific education and certification to work with the disabled? If the only thing he did here is volunteer, unless he has connections here in this hard job market it will be hard for him to get a job in the same area unless he has actual related work experience in the states. In the healthcare field in Canada, unless you have TN visa through US citizenship, it is almost impossible to get sponsored for visa (very important part many, many nurses overlook when they move here). It might be better if he actually goes there with a day care license because ECE (early childhood education) is a way better job to get sponsorship work visa and he could work with disabled children in that way (and certification is transferrable from just about anywhere, even South Korea.) Look at CIC, Canada's Immigration website, and WelcomeBC, BC's immigration website and Healthmatch BC, government owned website that recruits nurses to BC. It is difficult for a nurse to a single income earner and raise a family in BC, especially in the Metro Vancouver, Lower mainland, Fraser Valley area...

Hope this helps.

jucicool · Sep 1, 2016

Thank you companisbiki and silverdragon. Sorry I haven't had time to respond recently. Completely swamped with work at the moment. But I wanted to say thank you - your advice is very helpful and will guide my husband and I in our decision to make a go of it or not :)

babyfriendly · Sep 1, 2016

The TN visa is only in the US. Canada doesn't really have that.

Nurses can still apply for permanent residency under the Federal Skilled Worker program. Given that you have experience & presumably very good English &/or French skills you may be a competitive applicant for that. You do not need a job offer for this category of application.

Alternately you can apply as a temporary worker but you need a job offer for that.

The official Gov't of Canada immigration website has an online form where you can find out if you're eligible to apply to immigrate. Just search for 'determine your eligibility - immigrate to Canada'. I suggest you try out that tool and see your results. I suspect you'll get the result that you can apply under the Express Entry for Federal Skilled Worker category. If you & your dh both fill out this tool & take the results to the nearest Cdn consulate, they can advise you of the next steps.

sunship88 · Sep 12, 2016

You shouldn't have any problem getting a job in dialysis in BC once you're licensed, especially coming from the US. It is a specialty and health authorities in Vancouver are paying nurses to receive specialty education at BCIT which takes ~6months to a year. If you already have experience that's a huge benefit.

Cost of living in Vancouver is a whole other issue sadly! Very expensive to buy here, and expensive to rent in Vancouver proper