Working in canada with Associate Degree

lalaxton · Jul 4, 2007

Hi there,

It really depends on which province in Canada you wish to practice in. Ontario does have a BSN requirement now for entry to practice but some provinces do not.

You should check with the individual provinces requirements.

Yes there are Masters NP programs in Canada. Not sure how that would be accepted in the US, you would need to check with state BON to determine if they have reciprocity or if they consider the education equivalent. Since NP's are much more established in the US it may be easier to have an American NP training accepted in Canada versus the other way around.

anononurse · Jul 8, 2007

I also have an ADN in the US. I am interested in working in Canada for 5 yrs or maybe permanently- not sure. I'm a US citizen, but as a child my family took us to Canada all the time for vacations, etc. I have always loved it there. Does anyone know the requirements to work in Alberta?

impimms · Jul 9, 2007

I am also in the last semester of my Associate Degree in the USA. I am a Canadian citizen and came to the US for my studies thinking I would work in the USA when I finished my degree so I wasn't worried about whether I could work in Canada. Now I have different feelings and I am thinking I would like to work in Canada when I complete my one year of training here but I am not sure what provinces I will be able to work in. Originally from Saskatchewan. If anyone has information on which provinces will still accept ASN degree please help as I am unable to find this information. Alternatively I will just continue with one more year of school to get my BSN. Thanks!

lalaxton · Jul 11, 2007

Once again it really depends on what province you want to work in. Contact the College of Nurses in that province and they will be able to help you. Some have all this info on their websites.

In Ontario go to http://www.cno.org

RNGrad2006 · Jul 12, 2007

I also have an ADN in the US. I am interested in working in Canada for 5 yrs or maybe permanently- not sure. I'm a US citizen, but as a child my family took us to Canada all the time for vacations, etc. I have always loved it there. Does anyone know the requirements to work in Alberta?

I am a Canadian and studied in the US and have been working in the US for just over the year. I was interested in getting registered in BC since that is where I am from so I applied. It was hard but I presented my case why I felt my education was equivalent to a current BSN education. With the ADN it is more than a 2 year degree with all of the pre-reqs required and I submitted ALL of the many classes I took with the syllabi etc... and my education was accepted. I also think it may be easier in any province in Canada to prove that case with the exception of Ontario who seems to have a 100% BSN or nothing rule now. BC told me they look at it on a case by case basis but are leaning more and more to a BSN requirement. I applied over a year ago so not sure if that has changed. I have 2 years to satisfy a few more requirements though besides education. One of the requirements is the exam which is only offered 3 times a year. The other is securing a Canadian employer to do a supervised practice for 250 hours prior to final registration. In BC they now require a reference from a Canadian employer and don't accept any reference from a US employer prior to registration. But because I am currently working in the US and am in a contract, I can't commit to that right now.

Our other complication is because it is harder for my husband to my find work in Canada than in the US we came here mostly for him originally. We are trying to apply for green cards but are caught up in retrogression and are not even able to apply and are getting incredibly frustrated by the process. Ironically we originally came here for him and he is not working due to the immigration policies. We were incredibly disappointed that after jumping through hoop after hoop we were denied in applying in July due to USCIS altering their Visa Bulletin at the last minute. We paid so much out of pocket cost for attorneys, medical exams etc... Now I am starting to wonder is it all worth it. We have not seen our families since last October and keep telling them that we don't know when and if we will be able to visit. It is emotionally draining.

From what I have heard the cost of living and opportunity in Alberta is great if you can handle the winters. It would be cold for most Americans unless you are from a similar climate.

But in answer to your question check out:

http://www.nurses.ab.ca/

And click on the registration tab and you should be able to get the appropriate source on their requirements.

I think Alberta is planning on going to a BSN requirement in 2009 so the sooner you look into this the better.

Hope this helps.

RNGrad2006 · Jul 12, 2007

I am also in the last semester of my Associate Degree in the USA. I am a Canadian citizen and came to the US for my studies thinking I would work in the USA when I finished my degree so I wasn't worried about whether I could work in Canada. Now I have different feelings and I am thinking I would like to work in Canada when I complete my one year of training here but I am not sure what provinces I will be able to work in. Originally from Saskatchewan. If anyone has information on which provinces will still accept ASN degree please help as I am unable to find this information. Alternatively I will just continue with one more year of school to get my BSN. Thanks!

As I posted to another poster my ADN was accepted in BC and I think most provinces esp Alberta and Manitoba would definitely be possibilities but until you go to the College of Registered Nurses for the particular province and contact, apply etc... it is hard to get definitive answers. It took about 6 months for BC to just assess my education and lots of fees associated with it also. And only then was I able to actually talk to a person and get more answers. But getting a BSN for most schools takes longer than a year. I am currently in a RN to BSN program and it is about 1.5 years as I am required to take 15 classes. It is longer to do the ladder approach by doing ADN and then BSN later but at least I am able to work in the meanwhile and my employer is essentially paying for it. They cover $5250 a year for tuition so I am taking just as many classes as the tuition covers so it will take me on a part time basis just over 2 years to complete. That is one benefit in the US since employers in Canada would not cover tuition like that although going to school in Canada is far cheaper. The University I am going to now, the classes are about $1000-1100 USD per course plus books. I was also accepted at UBC but decided to pursue education in the US since I would not get tuition reimbursement if I went to school at UBC.

Are you on a F-1 Visa. If you are you would qualify to get OPT when you graduate and then apply for Visascreen and get a TN to work once the OPT expires. That is what I did. What state are you in? I also chose to go to school in the US since it was faster to get into school. I still had to wait over 2 years but I have heard in Canada it is more like 3-5 years. But I think if you get your BSN it may be a shorter wait but at the time I didn't want to commit to 4 years due to my husband having lost his job and not wanting to have that large of a commitment to school since I also had young children. The frustrating part was that my husband went to school and graduated and only worked a year and then got laid off and it was incredibly hard to get a job. He was even working for a while for $11 CDN an hour with a bachelors degree. This is not something that could support a family even with me working full time. So we came to the US for better opportunities but that has been a struggle also. Hoping things get easier for us soon.

Best of luck to you and all the best as you soon graduate. It is very exciting. I love Nursing and don't regret my choices and do love my job. Not sure how things compare to Canada but there is definitely a HUGE nursing shortage in Canada just as bad or worse as the US so you shouldn't have any trouble finding work. Hospitals in BC have pretty much a whole wall of positions for RN's and a handful for other jobs in comparison. It is great for RN's as far as job opportunties but plenty of opportunity for overtime also.