- Become a Nurse in Canada -
Write the Canadian Registered Nurse Exam and Enter the Nursing Profession
The journey to become a nurse in Canada has many regulated requirements.
Permission to take the nursing entrance test to become a registered nurse is not given until all the requirements have
been satisfied. Some internationally educated nurses experience significant delay in meeting the regulated requirements of
the nursing profession.
It may not be easy to obtain your
nursing license but it will be worth it!
Do You want to Become a Nurse in Canada?
Data collected by the Canadian Nurses Association shows:
Internationally educated nurses comprise 7% of the Canadian workforce in nursing. In Ontario this number is as high as 10%.
The majority of internationally educated nurses in Canada come from the Philippines.
Other countries donating nurses to the Canadian health care system are Britain, India, the
United States, Iran, USSR, Poland, Yugoslavia, China and Romania.
The challenges will start when you leave your home, your family, and your familiar way of life to start again and
settle in a new country. Immigration rules and policies sometimes make it difficult to know what to expect before you get to Canada.
One you get all your papers scrutinized by the provincial regulatory nursing body
and get approved to take the the nursing entrance test you may be
faced with a wait of many months
as the exam is only offered three times per year and only in Canada.
Additional challenges to becoming a registered nurse in Canada will be getting through the
Canadian immigration procedures in order
to obtaining work visas and other requirements.
All of these challenges take considerable time and energy and in fact
nursing research has shown that challenges faced by foreign trained nurses who want to become a nurse in Canada are:
Despite the difficult journey however, many nurses do fulfil their dream to
become a registered nurse in Canada so don't give up. Once you enter the nursing profession in Canada you will be so glad you persisted in
your journey. You will never be without work and the opportunities for interesting and challenging work are endless.
Recent research undertaken at
McMaster University (2008) in Canada reveals that entering the nursing profession in Canada is not an easy journey for many
internationally educated nurses (IENs). The majority are not eligible to practice on arrival in Canada and they experience significant delays in obtaining
eligibility to write the
nursing entrance test (Canadian Registered Nurse Exam) and meet other registration criteria.
Sometimes the delays are so significant the idea of ever becoming a nurse in Canada
is abandoned.
To see how worthwhile it will be for you to persist in your efforts to
Become a Nurse in Canada look at the money that you could make.
