Registered nurse in Canada: your Express Entry path, step by step

Your way into the Express Entry pool

Every invitation needs a profile in the Express Entry pool. Nurses usually qualify through:

• Federal Skilled Worker. Experience must be in a TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3 job; registered nursing is TEER 1.
• 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 and its cut-off. You need at least 12 months of full-time work (or the same part-time) as a nurse 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 licensed: NNAS and your province

Registered nursing is regulated: you must be registered with the regulator in the province or territory where you work. The Canadian Council of Registered Nurse Regulators coordinates the regulators nationally but does not license anyone.

• NNAS first. The National Nursing Assessment Service is the usual first step for nurses educated abroad, and its advisory reports are accepted by every nursing regulator except those in Quebec and the territories. You do not need to be in Canada or a permanent resident to apply, and NNAS recommends starting early. Its Expedited Service starts the RN and LPN process together if you completed nursing education and were licensed as a nurse outside Canada.
• Psychiatric nurses use a separate NNAS route, the Registered Psychiatric Nurse Pathway.
• NNAS does not license you. The provincial regulator decides, and sets its own requirements. In Ontario, for example, RN applicants pass the NCLEX-RN, and the College of Nurses of Ontario also accepts an education assessment from WES, ICAS or ICES. Ontario asks for a baccalaureate degree for RN registration; with a nursing diploma you may be able to apply as a registered practical nurse instead.

IRCC notes that the educational credential assessment you use for Express Entry does not guarantee a licence, so the two processes run side by side.

What nurses earn

The panel above shows Job Bank's median hourly wage for registered nurses across Canada, with pay by province and region on Job Bank.