What's the job market like in the Toronto area?

joanna73, BSN, RN · Nov 19, 2012

It's probably not you. I left Toronto 2 years ago and moved west due to wage freezes and hiring freezes. Many of our contract nurses are from ON. Toronto continues to be very competitive, and while the job market isn't as dismal as 2010, it hasn't improved much from what I'm hearing. Hopefully you will find something soon. Why don't you consider agency work if you want to remain in acute care? It's a way in.

Daisy_08, BSN, RN · Nov 19, 2012

Two of my classmates moved to TO after graduation (1.5 years ago) after looking for over 9months one now drives an hour out of the city to work the other is a waitress.

I think Toronto is one of the hardest places to get hired in unless you know someone, consolidate or get a new grad.

Try looking at the small hospitals in the GRATER area (ajax, markham). Good luck.

Aeterna, BSN, RN · Nov 20, 2012

Thanks for the insight! I'm feeling not quite so bad about the complete lack of responses. As much as I was hoping to get a job closer to my hometown (within the GTA), I may have to expand outwards. Right now, I'm a several-hours drive away from Toronto and anything closer would be great.

I'm not really feeling any sort of love for agency nursing. A daughter of one of my mom's friends did that and it doesn't sound like my cup of tea. I'm the type of person that takes a while to settle into a new place and get comfortable with the people and the geography, so I prefer to be hired onto a single unit rather than get bounced around several places.

I have a friend who has some connections in Toronto and she got an interview just by asking her friend. Must be nice to have those kinds of connections I've got none so I've got to hunt for jobs the traditional way and keep at it!

michellemck · Nov 20, 2012

i am in the gta and having the same issues. my experience is similar to yours and am pretty open to where i look for work. i too want to stay in the acute sector and although i know i could get something within a long term care setting/home visiting, this is not a route i want to go down. i feel the longer you are out of a hospital setting, the harder it would be to get back in, due to lack of recent experience. i have also not worked as an RN for 2 years due to immigration/registration process. i really enjoyed where i worked previously on medical units in busy hospitals, in the uk and australia. i am also only looking at part time posts, which i have heard are easier to get? wouldn't seem so. feel like i'm stuck - no canadian experience (which seems highly valued), no recent experience, not a new grad who would benefit from a new grad work programme and no contacts :sorry: . i am willing to look at agencies as a way in and have thought about doing a graduate cert in critical care (as alot of jobs i note i cannot apply for as i do not have this or exp in such an area). it will give me recent studying exp and also recent canadian exp, even if it would be as a student. every little helps!

hope you find something soon! just keep plugging away. i hope HR departments get so sick of seeing my resume, they will give me a job just to get some peace and quiet!

loriangel14, RN · Nov 20, 2012

Have you tried looking a bit further north like the Orangeville, Alliston or Barrie area?

joanna73, BSN, RN · Nov 21, 2012

LTC is still much better than no experience, or waiting for the perfect job to come along.

JaneSmithRevisited · Nov 25, 2012

A lot of the positions that are opened in TO are critical care areas or specialized areas (such as OR/endoscopy or dialysis). I know a bunch my classmates from nursing school worked as a nursing resource or float nurse in their hospitals and after >6 months got hired into ER or ICU with paid training. Take some courses like coronary care 1 or ACLS or ECG monitoring if you can. I know a bunch of my co-workers are doing that right now because they want to leave my place of work.

Also... how long have you been looking? Because if it's less than 1 month, you're being impatient lol. Don't worry, you'll find a job and it's nursing. I know a lot of people b*&*$ and moan about not finding a job but nursing actually has better prospect than other professions. I have a friend who's in journalism and she isn't even sure if she's going to be absorbed/hired after her internship. It was an up hill battle to even land that internship.

Aeterna, BSN, RN · Nov 25, 2012

feel like i'm stuck - no canadian experience (which seems highly valued), no recent experience, not a new grad who would benefit from a new grad work programme and no contacts . i am willing to look at agencies as a way in and have thought about doing a graduate cert in critical care (as alot of jobs i note i cannot apply for as i do not have this or exp in such an area). it will give me recent studying exp and also recent canadian exp, even if it would be as a student. every little helps!

Yes, unfortunately for immigrants, a little Canadian experience is often considered better than a lot of foreign experience in the eyes of a lot of employers (including but not limited to hospitals!) Even having Canadian education is an asset. If you're not too picky, I'd take whatever you can just to get a little experience here. Good luck to you, too!

Have you tried looking a bit further north like the Orangeville, Alliston or Barrie area?

I think that will my next steps - look around at smaller hospitals in the surrounding areas. It is not what I was hoping for but I'll take anything closer to my hometown, to be honest.

A lot of the positions that are opened in TO are critical care areas or specialized areas (such as OR/endoscopy or dialysis). I know a bunch my classmates from nursing school worked as a nursing resource or float nurse in their hospitals and after >6 months got hired into ER or ICU with paid training. Take some courses like coronary care 1 or ACLS or ECG monitoring if you can. I know a bunch of my co-workers are doing that right now because they want to leave my place of work.
Also... how long have you been looking? Because if it's less than 1 month, you're being impatient lol. Don't worry, you'll find a job and it's nursing. I know a lot of people b*&*$ and moan about not finding a job but nursing actually has better prospect than other professions. I have a friend who's in journalism and she isn't even sure if she's going to be absorbed/hired after her internship. It was an up hill battle to even land that internship.

I realized, too, that a lot of positions are in specialty/critical care areas when I was browsing job openings. I'm still not entirely sure what I want to branch into - I just want something a little bit different than what I'm doing now. I know that OR, ER, psych, L&D, and mat-child are not interests of mine at all. The only "specialty" I can claim experience in is oncology but I kind of want a break from it (and there are few positions out there in the field, I find).

I'd love to take specialty courses but they are expensive, and if I'm not going to work in an area that will make use of that knowledge/skills, then I'm hesitant to jump into it. Also, there's the adage, "If you don't use it, you lose it!"

I've been looking for nearly 3 months now, I think, although I haven't sent any new applications in the last couple of weeks due to other things going on in life. It's not like I'm out of a job and need a new job ASAP to pay the bills. Still, I just want something different and I'm starting to feel burned out where I am now. You are right, though - nursing is a relatively easy profession to move around in. I know people who struggle to find any kind of job. My friend was also in journalism (including an English degree) but never found a job in the field after about a year of looking.

joanna73, BSN, RN · Nov 25, 2012

Periodically, I've considered returning to Toronto. Fortunately, threads such as this one remind me why I've left the city (and the Province) and why I need to stay away. The job market in the GTA has been poor for almost 5 years now. Ridiculous, IMO. To those of you still searching, I hope you find a position soon.

kheemooy · Nov 25, 2012

Periodically, I've considered returning to Toronto. Fortunately, threads such as this one remind me why I've left the city (and the Province) and why I need to stay away. The job market in the GTA has been poor for almost 5 years now. Ridiculous, IMO. To those of you still searching, I hope you find a position soon.

hi joanna?? where are you working right now?? did u originally come from toronto?? :)

joanna73, BSN, RN · Nov 25, 2012

Hi. Yes I'm a native Torontonian. I finished my degree and promptly moved to AB at the end of 2010. There are jobs for new grads in part time lines, especially if you can handle living in rural AB somewhere for at least a year.