Making it simpler for skilled nurses to relocate to Canada is on the Canadian government’s Priority Occupation List (NOC number 3012).
The NOC Code for Nursing Immigrants covers nurses, health educators, and advisors on nursing practice issues in its scope of practice. This covers psychiatric nurses as well.
These regulations allow registered nurses to operate in a variety of settings, including medical clinics, private practices, public hospitals, nursing homes, community health centers, and even as independent contractors.
Internationally qualified nurses from Nigeria can apply for temporary residency through the:
- Directly through Express Entry
- With a Job Offer
- With Provincial Nomination as a result of mandatory Nursing Registration.
The process for becoming a nurse in Canada differs based on the province or territory where you intend to work, but they all follow approximately the same rules.
To assist you in getting started on the path to a rewarding career, I have explained all of the procedures required to work as a nurse in Canada from Nigeria below. Make sure you read the entire thing.
Categories of Nursing In Canada
In Canada, the nursing profession is divided into three distinct domains.
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RNs (Registered Nurses in Canada)
Registered nurses (RNs) have achieved their General Registered Nurse certification after finishing a nursing program at a college or institution that is approved.
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RPNs (Registered Psychiatric Nurses in Canada)
RPNs are registered nurses who have either a bachelor’s degree in psychiatric nursing or a bachelor’s degree in another nursing discipline and have completed graduate-level psychiatric nursing training. RPN practice is governed by the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.
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LPNs (Licensed Practical Nurses in Canada)
These nurses have a diploma from a recognized nursing school and are permitted to practice independently under the supervision of a Registered Nurse.
How To Work As A Nigerian-Trained Nurse In Canada
Follow the steps outlined below if you want to get accepted to practice your nursing profession in Canada as a nurse from Nigeria:
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Verify Your Educational Credentials
The first step for a Nigerian nurse who wishes to work in Canada is to have their academic qualifications acknowledged so that they can be processed.
Working as a nurse in Canada must begin with this basic step. The only entity that can assess and validate a foreign student’s academic credentials is World Education Services.
Because the Canadian government has given permission for it to do so.
It is also an opportune time to take the necessary basic steps to have your nursing credentials formally recognized in Canada.
This process is overseen by Canada’s National Nursing Assessment Service (NNAS).
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Allow The National Nursing Assessment Service (NNAS) Evaluate Your Credentials
The NNAS evaluation, which costs CAD 650, is the next stage in obtaining your Canadian Visa and Canadian Nursing Registration.
It is an important step toward getting your nursing degree recognized in Canada.
Your qualifications will only be updated to meet the needs of the North American employment market.
It is simple to register with NNAS; simply follow the guidelines below.
- Set up an online account with NNAS.
- Complete the online application.
- Pay the required fee.
- Follow the steps for submitting documents for verification.
- When you have finished your application, NNAS will analyze it and send you an Advisory Report outlining their findings. The report will be submitted for review to the appropriate regulatory body.
- Apply to your preferred regulatory agency and pay the application cost through your NNAS account.
The NNAS application fee is CAD650 as of the date of publishing of this article, and applicants may select one province and one nursing group (RN or LPN).
If you want your advisory report delivered to more than one province, you can pay an extra $55 for each province.
If you wish to add licensed practical nurses and registered nurses (with diplomas and degrees), you must pay an additional CAD220.
Documents Required For NNAS Verification
NNAS Requires Two Forms Of Identification: These copies must be certified, which means they have been signed and sealed by an authorized government official who declares that they have viewed the original papers, generated the copies, and are confident that they are accurate.
Proof of identification can include the following:
- International Passport
- Driver’s license, birth certificate, marriage certificate
- Change of name affidavit
Send An Application For Nursing Education
You can download the form from your online profile, fill it out, sign it, and mail it back to your Nigerian nursing school. This document, along with official copies of your academic records/transcript, nursing program curriculum/course descriptions, and/or course syllabi, must be sent directly from your school’s administration to NNAS through mail or courier.
Send Your Nursing Registration Form
Before forwarding this form to any nursing licensing authorities outside of Canada where you were authorized or registered, please download, print, and sign it. NNAS will not accept a nurse registration form that does not come straight from your licensing body. If you have a diploma that allows you to work as a nurse in your country, ask the school that issued it to send an official copy of the diploma in its original language to NNAS.
Submit The Nursing Practice/Employment Form
Sign and mail this form to each employer you’ve held in the last five years. To be accepted by NNAS, your nursing practice/employment form must be sent directly from your employer through mail or courier.
Send In Your IELTS Language Exam Results
You must take language tests and have the results sent to NNAS by an approved language testing provider. If English or French is the main language in the area where you live and work, and your nursing education program is also in English or French, you may not need to take language examinations.
Send In Your Application
Once NNAS has received the required documentation, you may submit your application and select the provincial regulating authority and nursing group to which you wish to apply.
Registration/Assessment By The Provincial Regulatory Bodies
After passing the NNAS exam, you can apply to the nursing medical board in the province or territory of your choice to become a registered nurse in Canada.
The NNAS score will be used by all nursing boards throughout the world to assess an applicant’s nursing knowledge, experience, and education to the standards set by their respective nursing boards.
This stage frequently leads to one of two outcomes.
To be considered for a complete license and registration, a candidate will be invited to enroll in a bridging program or take the province’s final nursing test.
The provinces, qualifications available, and regulating organization concerned are listed below:
- British Columbia – RN & PN: British Columbia College of Nursing Professionals
- Ontario – RN: College of Nurses of Ontario
- Saskatchewan – RN: Saskatchewan Registered Nurse Association
- Manitoba – RN & PN; College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba; Practical Nurses College of Licensed Practical Nurses of Manitoba
- Alberta – PN & RN College of Licensed Practical Nurses of Alberta; College & Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta.
Choose The Best Immigration Method For You
Assume you meet the standards to work as a nurse in Canada as a Nigerian.
In that case, you can use the many economic immigration programs available at both the federal and provincial levels, such as the Express Entry system, Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP), and Quebec’s Skilled Worker program, to find work and eventually obtain permanent residency in the country.
Now that your NNAS evaluation is complete, you may begin filling up your Express Entry profile.
If you want to work as a Nurse in Canada from Nigeria, you should create the finest possible profile, albeit an express entry profile will not go you very far.
Express Entry is when the real labor begins. It is merely the beginning of the immigration process.
Given that you will soon be able to obtain your nursing registration, you have numerous options for coming to Canada if you do not have a job offer as a nurse.
You must wait for an invitation to apply through the Express Entry Program.
You will get an Invitation to Apply through the Express Entry program in the last stage of your immigration to Canada.
You can now notice indicators of progress in your quest to work as a Nurse in Canada as a Nigerian.
If your nursing registration and licensure are in order, you should be on your way to obtaining an Express Entry Federal Skilled Worker Visa.
If you do not receive an invitation to apply, you might still try to gain traction in the shape of a provincial nomination or a job offer.
Your Express Entry profile must be excellent enough to be chosen by the federal government, a province, or through a formal employment offer in Canada to receive this invitation.
How To Get Selected For An Invitation
The CIC invites candidates with the greatest number of Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points in the Express Entry pool to apply.
The optimal Comprehensive Ranking score is 1200.
A provincial nomination certificate is worth 600 points in Canada, while a job offer is worth 200 points.
Thus far, all nursing immigration draws to Canada have been at or above 449 CRS points.
As a result, obtaining your nursing registration in one province instantly qualifies you to practice nursing in that province.
This will result in a significant rise in nursing registration points on its own; of course, the provincial nomination will add another 600 points.
You may be able to immigrate to Canada without a work offer or provincial nomination if you are a registered nurse with an Express Entry CRS score of 449 or above.
If your score is less than 449, you will need a provincial nomination or a work offer in the nursing profession in Canada before you can immigrate.
Final Thoughts
If you successfully complete all of these stages, I wish you the best of luck as you begin your new career in Canada. Your visas can be activated for up to a year.