Licensed practical nurse in Canada: your Express Entry path, step by step

Your way into the Express Entry pool

Before a draw can invite you, you need a profile in the Express Entry pool. Practical nurses usually qualify through:

• Federal Skilled Worker. Experience must be in a TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3 job; this one is TEER 2.
• Canadian Experience Class. For skilled work experience already gained in Canada.

The healthcare draws

These draws rank only people with recent experience in one of the 37 listed health and social services jobs. The panel above shows the latest one. You need at least 12 months of full-time work (or the same part-time) in this occupation within the last 3 years. The months do not have to be in a row, and the work must match the NOC description of the job.

Getting registered

Practical nursing is regulated in every province and territory: you register and pass a registration exam. The Canadian Council for Practical Nurse Regulators brings the regulators together nationally but does not license anyone.

• NNAS first. As for registered nurses, the National Nursing Assessment Service is the first step, and one Expedited Service application covers both the RN and LPN professions if you completed post-secondary nursing education and were licensed as a nurse outside Canada. NNAS reports are not used in Quebec or the territories.
• Then the province. Each regulator sets its own steps. In Ontario, practical nurse applicants pass the REx-PN, and a practical nursing diploma is the minimum education.

What practical nurses earn

The panel above shows Job Bank's median hourly wage for licensed practical nurses across Canada, and Job Bank lists pay by province and region.