USA to Canada

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Hi Everyone, 

I'm planning on moving to Quebec province from USA because I'm tired of being here. I need a better quality of life and America is just not it for me right now. But, do Canada have travel nursing within the country or a lot of per diem opportunites? I don't want to work as a full time staff. Any of you been in this predicament or know someone who has? Canadian nurses tune in. 
 

I'm considering just being a dual citizen so I can work travel nurse jobs in America but live in Canada. I just don't know if I need a job lined up in order to gain my immigration status in Canada

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Specializes in Gerontology.

I am in Ontario and have never heard of travel nursing.

If you want to work in Quebec you need to be fluent in French, including medical terms. 

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Hi -

I'm a US citizen and US educated registered nurse. I've moved to Canada with my Canadian husband so we could be closer to his aging parents. If you were not educated in Canada, you will be an Internationally Educated Nurse and will need to do some leg work to get a nursing license in Canada - it isn't like moving from one state to another, which is fairly easy to get the new state to recognize your credentials.

So from my personal experience, you may have 2 things you have to work through - 1) getting your license in Canada - we have to go through NNAS - they evaluate your education curriculum, work history, and licenses - plan on this taking @ 1 year - also if you were not educated in English or French, you will have to prove language proficiency and 2) you will need to think about immigration status, have a job offer or have some way of being allowed into the country to look for work unless you are a Canadian citizen. I'm married to a Canadian, so we've applied for a spousal/family sponsored residence status - getting status straightened out also takes a while - but I did get a work permit as a temporary resident fairly quickly. Your employer can sponsor you, so it would be best to have a job already lined up, that would really speed things up immigration-wise.

Best of luck!

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StudentRN56 said:

Hi -

I'm a US citizen and US educated registered nurse. I've moved to Canada with my Canadian husband so we could be closer to his aging parents. If you were not educated in Canada, you will be an Internationally Educated Nurse and will need to do some leg work to get a nursing license in Canada - it isn't like moving from one state to another, which is fairly easy to get the new state to recognize your credentials.

So from my personal experience, you may have 2 things you have to work through - 1) getting your license in Canada - we have to go through NNAS - they evaluate your education curriculum, work history, and licenses - plan on this taking @ 1 year - also if you were not educated in English or French, you will have to prove language proficiency and 2) you will need to think about immigration status, have a job offer or have some way of being allowed into the country to look for work unless you are a Canadian citizen. I'm married to a Canadian, so we've applied for a spousal/family sponsored residence status - getting status straightened out also takes a while - but I did get a work permit as a temporary resident fairly quickly. Your employer can sponsor you, so it would be best to have a job already lined up, that would really speed things up immigration-wise.

Best of luck!

Hi ,

Thanks for your answer. I am planning on getting my canadian nursing license. I've looked up the process and options to get immigration status so I'm might use skilled worker. But, I'm not really worried about those 2. I'm more so concerned about the opportunities for nurses such as travel nursing and per diem jobs for people who don't want to be staff permanently.  

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

As previously mentioned you would need to be fluent in French to work in Quebec. We don't have travel nursing but agencies exist. Do you have your BSN? Gaining citizenship takes time, you need to get your PR first and then citizenship takes at least 4 years after that.

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loriangel14 said:

As previously mentioned you would need to be fluent in French to work in Quebec. We don't have travel nursing but agencies exist. Do you have your BSN? Gaining citizenship takes time, you need to get your PR first and then citizenship takes at least 4 years after that.

Hi, so I've done research and seen other Canadian nurses post. There are travel agencies just not within Quebec. Also many people have said you can get by with just English but yes I speak French & I have my BSN. I don't think you need citizenship to work there. PR works fine. These are the agencies: 
 

Solutions Staffing

Select Medical Connections

Travelnurse.ca

Sympatico Medical Solutions

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OOH - cool to put the agencies down! I will check those out! I applied to get a BC RN license but I'm still waiting for them to evaluate everything - so I haven't been able to apply for any jobs just yet.

I can confirm you don't need citizenship to work in Canada. You just need a work permit if you aren't a citizen.

One thing I've noticed is that some of the job postings - especially the ones I've seen for travel nursing in BC- is that they require Canadian work experience - just want that to be on your radar... The postings I found were on indeed.ca

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StudentRN56 said:

OOH - cool to put the agencies down! I will check those out! I applied to get a BC RN license but I'm still waiting for them to evaluate everything - so I haven't been able to apply for any jobs just yet.

I can confirm you don't need citizenship to work in Canada. You just need a work permit if you aren't a citizen.

One thing I've noticed is that some of the job postings - especially the ones I've seen for travel nursing in BC- is that they require Canadian work experience - just want that to be on your radar... The postings I found were on indeed.ca

Yeah one of the agency told me I'd need Canadian experience even if I'm a travel nurse in America. So I'll most likely work as a staff for a year in Quebec and then start traveling. I'm thinking about doing traveling in America and Canada though but we'll see when the time comes. I'm over America's healthcare system. Which province did you move to? 

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

I only mentioned citizenship because the OP said they were going to maintain dual citizenship. I know you don't need citizenship to work in Canada. You most certainly do need to be fluent in French to work in Quebec. It's a requirement. 

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On May 1 Nova Scotia  created a fast-track to RN licensure registration called "First in Canada". You need an unencumbered license and criminal background check from one of 7 countries- one of them is the U.S.  The NSCN is cutting the registration process from weeks/months to days. You no longer need a lengthy credentials process or to go through the NNS. You can apply directly to the NSCN through  an online portal for applications. 
https://www.nscn.ca/registration-licensing/first-time-registering-nova-scotia/international-nurse-not-currently-licensed-canada

As a U.S. citizen, you are eligible for a TN1 visa for work - which can be applied for at the border. This ability to work is allowed across borders for Canadian. U.S. and Mexican citizens under NAFTA.  There is paperwork that must be provided to Canadian Border personnel, but this is done frequently in both directions.

Hope this is useful
 

 

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Specializes in ER, FNP-S.

Hey @Jouba — I was looking into this possibility as well. 
 

I had began the process for a different province, however, I am now considering Québec. Thanks for sharing the travel companies. I am also contemplating continuing US travel. I think the "casual,” positions in Canada are similar to US per diem...? I'm still a bit fuzzy on it, but it seems you can pick up shifts this way. 
 

I also read that Québec will be switching over to NCLEX, next year so I'm wondering if the immigration process will change? 
 

Have you uncovered anymore info regarding the process?

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TheInclusiveNurse said:

Hey @Jouba — I was looking into this possibility as well. 
 

I had began the process for a different province, however, I am now considering Québec. Thanks for sharing the travel companies. I am also contemplating continuing US travel. I think the "casual,” positions in Canada are similar to US per diem...? I'm still a bit fuzzy on it, but it seems you can pick up shifts this way. 
 

I also read that Québec will be switching over to NCLEX, next year so I'm wondering if the immigration process will change? 
 

Have you uncovered anymore info regarding the process?

Hi,

I've decided to just do travel nursing in the US when I move to quebec. Nursing in quebec isn't worth it to me in terms of pay. They require so much and don't even pay that much. I'd rather just live in Quebec and pick up assignments in the US from time to time. I'm hoping to do real estate investing in Quebec though. 

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