{"id":23839,"date":"2025-08-25T10:25:27","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T06:55:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/blog\/immigrate-to-canada-as-a-nurse\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T15:30:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T12:00:11","slug":"immigrate-to-canada-as-a-nurse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/en\/blog\/immigrate-to-canada-as-a-nurse\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Immigrate to Canada as a Nurse: Step-by-Step Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/en\/immigration-to-canada\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Immigrating to Canada<\/a> as a nurse is one of the clearer skilled routes into the country, and it appeals to people who want <strong>a stronger career and a settled life<\/strong>. Canada has a large public health system, an active labour market and solid social benefits, so it stays a popular destination for experienced nurses. The route has its own steps and conditions, and knowing them early makes the process far less stressful.<\/p>\n<p>This article sets out the nursing licence categories, the requirements you have to meet, and the practical points that decide how quickly a nurse can move to Canada and get a licence to practise. If you plan to work as a nurse in Canada, read on.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This page is about nurses. If you are a doctor rather than a nurse, <a href=\"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/en\/nova-scotia-defined-licence\/\">physicians have a separate provincial route \u2014 the Nova Scotia Defined licence<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Why nurses look at Canada<\/h2>\n<p>Canada runs one of the largest publicly funded health systems in the world, and nursing is a respected, regulated profession inside it. Nurses work under clear scope-of-practice rules, with union agreements in most public hospitals.<\/p>\n<p>Demand for licensed nurses in Canadian hospitals, clinics and long-term care is high, and an ageing population means that demand is expected to hold. Staffing shortages in health care are the reason both the federal government and the provinces run dedicated streams for internationally educated nurses.<\/p>\n<p>Nursing immigration to Canada gives you professional work in a well-equipped system, competitive pay and access to public services. It does not give you a guaranteed result: every application is decided by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) or by a province on its own merits.<\/p>\n<h2>Common routes for nurses to immigrate to Canada<\/h2>\n<p>There are four main routes to a <a href=\"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/en\/canada-work-permit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Canadian work visa for nurses<\/a>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #993300;\">Express Entry<\/span><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/en\/quebec-investor-program\/\"><span style=\"color: #993300;\">Quebec immigration<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #993300;\">Provincial Nominee Programs<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #993300;\">Studying in Canada<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Each of these routes for nurses is set out in detail below.<\/p>\n<h3>Express Entry<\/h3>\n<p>Nursing immigration to Canada through <a href=\"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/en\/canada-express-entry\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Express Entry<\/a> works like this:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You enter through the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSW) or the Canadian Experience Class (CEC)<\/li>\n<li>FSW asks for at least one year of continuous skilled work experience in the past ten years; CEC asks for one year of skilled work in Canada in the past three years<\/li>\n<li>You need an accepted language test. IRCC accepts IELTS General Training, CELPIP-General and PTE Core for English, and TEF Canada or TCF Canada for French. TOEFL is not accepted for Express Entry. FSW requires at least CLB 7 in every ability<\/li>\n<li>FSW also has a separate eligibility grid scored out of 100, and you must reach 67 points on it. That is not the same as your CRS score, which is the ranking score used once your profile is in the pool<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"test\">Candidates with the highest CRS scores in a given round receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA). IRCC also runs category-based rounds for health care and social services occupations, which can invite nurses at lower scores than the general rounds.<\/div>\n<h3>Quebec immigration<\/h3>\n<p>Quebec selects its own skilled immigrants and does not use Express Entry. Nurses may qualify under Quebec&#8217;s skilled worker selection stream, which is scored against Quebec&#8217;s own grid and its own list of in-demand training areas.<\/p>\n<p>Candidates submit an expression of interest through the Arrima portal. If Quebec selects you, it issues a Quebec Selection Certificate (CSQ); you then apply to IRCC for permanent residence. Quebec has revised this program in recent years, so check the current criteria and French language requirements before you build a file.<\/p>\n<h3>Provincial Nominee Programs<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/en\/blog\/canada-provincial-nominee-program\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP)<\/a> are a strong option for nurses. In short:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Each province runs its own streams to attract skilled workers it needs<\/li>\n<li>These provincial routes lead to an application for Canadian permanent residence<\/li>\n<li>Some streams are enhanced streams, open only to candidates already in the Express Entry pool<\/li>\n<li>An enhanced provincial nomination adds 600 CRS points, which in practice means an invitation in a following round<\/li>\n<li>Most streams look for a genuine tie to the province, such as a job offer there, family, or study or work history in the province<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Studying in Canada<\/h3>\n<p>If you do not yet meet the requirements for the programs above, you can apply for a <a href=\"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/en\/canadian-student-visa\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Canadian study permit<\/a> and take a nursing program in Canada. A Canadian nursing credential opens up local clinical experience and can support a later permanent residence application. Immigration rules change, including the rules on post-graduation work permits and field-of-study eligibility, so nothing about the settings that apply on the day you graduate can be promised in advance. Under current rules, a Canadian credential does carry real weight.<\/p>\n<p>Our suggestion: read <a href=\"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/en\/blog\/best-cities-to-study-in-canada\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the best Canadian cities to study in<\/a> on the Aval Visa site.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-21534 size-full aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Nurse-immigration-ways-1.webp\" alt=\"Nurse immigration to Canada\" width=\"1200\" height=\"375\" srcset=\"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Nurse-immigration-ways-1.webp 1200w, https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Nurse-immigration-ways-1-300x94.webp 300w, https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Nurse-immigration-ways-1-1024x320.webp 1024w, https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Nurse-immigration-ways-1-768x240.webp 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>A few practical points when you choose a route as a nurse:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Your nursing education has to be assessed against Canadian standards. For most provinces that assessment runs through the National Nursing Assessment Service (NNAS).<\/li>\n<li>A strong result in IELTS, CELPIP or TEF improves your standing in Express Entry and in most provincial streams.<\/li>\n<li>Studying in a Canadian nursing program gives you both a recognised credential and clinical exposure to the Canadian system.<\/li>\n<li>Working with a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC) or an immigration lawyer helps you pick the right stream and file it correctly the first time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Types of nursing licence in Canada<\/h2>\n<p>To work as a nurse anywhere in Canada you need a licence from the nursing regulator in that province or territory. If you secure a job before you arrive, most provinces let you <strong>start the registration process from outside Canada<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>There are three main nursing licence categories in Canada, and they differ by education level, scope of practice and responsibility:<\/p>\n<h3>Nurse Practitioner (NP)<\/h3>\n<p>An NP licence normally requires a master&#8217;s degree in nursing or an advanced practice credential in a stream such as adult care, paediatrics or primary health care, together with experience as a Registered Nurse or the equivalent.<\/p>\n<p>In several provinces the NP licence sits on top of the RN licence, so you must already hold RN registration or be eligible for it before you can be registered as an NP.<\/p>\n<h3>Registered Nurse (RN) and Registered Psychiatric Nurse<\/h3>\n<p>An RN licence normally requires a bachelor&#8217;s degree in nursing. Regulators also apply a recency-of-practice rule: if your nursing education or your last nursing job is several years behind you, you have to show a set number of recent practice hours, or complete a refresher or bridging program. The exact hours and the look-back period are set by each provincial regulator.<\/p>\n<p>Registered Psychiatric Nurse is a separate regulated title used in the four western provinces and Yukon.<\/p>\n<h3>Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN)<\/h3>\n<p>An LPN licence, called Registered Practical Nurse in Ontario, normally requires a practical nursing diploma. The same recency-of-practice rule applies: if you finished your diploma some years ago, you have to show that you have been working in nursing.<\/p>\n<h2>Nursing occupations targeted in Canada<\/h2>\n<p>Because of the staffing shortage in health care, the federal government and the provinces have built dedicated streams for internationally educated nurses, and these streams shorten the path to <a href=\"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/en\/blog\/canada-permanent-residence\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Canadian permanent residence<\/a> for this group.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-21538 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Nurse-immigration-branches-1.webp\" alt=\"Requirements to immigrate to Canada as a nurse\" width=\"1212\" height=\"1201\" srcset=\"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Nurse-immigration-branches-1.webp 1212w, https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Nurse-immigration-branches-1-300x297.webp 300w, https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Nurse-immigration-branches-1-1024x1015.webp 1024w, https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Nurse-immigration-branches-1-150x150.webp 150w, https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Nurse-immigration-branches-1-768x761.webp 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1212px) 100vw, 1212px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Requirements to immigrate to Canada as a nurse<\/h2>\n<p>There is no fixed age limit for a nursing work visa in Canada. Age still matters indirectly: Express Entry awards the most CRS age points between 20 and 29, and the points taper after that. To open a file you need:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>A practical nursing diploma or a four-year bachelor&#8217;s degree in nursing from a recognised college or university<\/li>\n<li>The NCLEX-RN, the national licensing exam, to register as a Registered Nurse outside Quebec<\/li>\n<li>The CPNRE to register as a Licensed Practical Nurse in most provinces; Ontario and British Columbia use the REx-PN instead<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Credential assessment through NNAS normally comes before you can sit either exam.<\/p>\n<h2>Benefits of working as a nurse in Canada<\/h2>\n<p>Health care in Canada has grown quickly, and openings for nurses have grown with it. If you are a nurse thinking about moving, Canada is worth a serious look. The main advantages:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Solid pay and benefits<\/strong><br \/>\nNursing wages in Canada vary by <strong>province, employer and level of registration<\/strong>. Check the current wage data for your NOC code and region on the Government of Canada&#8217;s Job Bank. On top of salary, nurses in the public system usually get provincial health coverage for themselves and their family, paid leave, pension contributions and shift and overtime premiums.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Job security and a wide choice of employers<\/strong><br \/>\nWith a growing and ageing population, demand for nurses across Canada is high. That means real <strong>job security<\/strong>, and openings in large cities as well as in rural and remote communities, which often pay recruitment or retention incentives.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Quality of life in Canada<\/strong><br \/>\nCanada takes work-life balance seriously. Scheduled shift patterns, public services and universal health coverage make daily life easier for nurses and their families. There is also <strong>a clear path for advancement and continuing education<\/strong> within the profession.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"test\">If you want a profession with reasonable pay, stability and a good standard of living, nursing in Canada is worth considering.<\/div>\n<h2><span style=\"background-color: #ffffff;\">Step-by-step guide to immigrating to Canada as a nurse<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Immigrating as a nurse means running two processes: <strong>the immigration application and professional registration in the Canadian health system<\/strong>. They overlap, and the licensing side usually takes longer than people expect. Here is the sequence.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Check your eligibility and occupation code<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Start with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.canada.ca\/en\/immigration-refugees-citizenship\/services\/immigrate-canada\/find-national-occupation-code.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">National Occupational Classification (NOC) code<\/a> for your job. Under NOC 2021, registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses are 31301 and nurse practitioners are 31302, both TEER 1. Licensed practical nurses are 32101, TEER 2. Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates are 33102, TEER 3. The old five-digit codes such as NOC 3012 have been retired. Your code decides which programs you can use, including the Federal Skilled Worker Program and most provincial streams.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Prove your language ability<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>English or French is mandatory. Book an accepted test: IELTS General Training, CELPIP-General or PTE Core for English, or TEF Canada or TCF Canada for French. Your result feeds directly into your CRS score, and nursing regulators set their own, usually higher, language thresholds.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Have your education and credentials assessed<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Two assessments run in parallel. For immigration, an IRCC-designated organisation issues an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) that maps your degree onto the Canadian system. For licensing, NNAS reviews your nursing education, registration and practice history and issues an advisory report to the provincial regulator. Both take time, so start them early.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Build your Express Entry profile<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>If you meet the criteria, create a profile in the <a href=\"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/en\/canada-express-entry\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Express Entry system<\/a>. The profile places eligible candidates in a pool and ranks them on age, education, work experience, language and other factors. The higher your score, the better your position for an invitation.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA)<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>If your score is above the cut-off in a round of invitations, IRCC issues an <strong>Invitation to Apply<\/strong>. This is the step that lets you file a full permanent residence application. Category-based rounds for health care occupations are the ones nurses watch most closely.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Submit your documents<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>After an ITA you have a fixed window, currently 60 days, to upload everything. That means education documents, reference letters covering your work history, police certificates for every country where you have lived, and an immigration medical exam. Accurate, complete documents are what keep a file moving; gaps and inconsistencies are what cause delays and refusals.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Assessment and decision<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>IRCC reviews your documents against the program requirements and checks admissibility. If the application is approved, you receive confirmation of permanent residence. The decision rests entirely with IRCC.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Get your nursing licence and register in the province<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Once in Canada, you complete registration with the nursing regulator in your province. Each province has its own regulator, which assesses your credentials, your language level and your competence, and may require a bridging program, a jurisprudence exam or supervised practice before it issues a full licence. Only after that can you work legally as a nurse in that province.<\/p>\n<h2>Cost of immigrating to Canada as a nurse<\/h2>\n<p>The table below summarises the typical costs of nursing immigration to Canada. Government fees, credential assessment fees and exam fees are reviewed regularly, so treat these as indicative and confirm the current amounts on the IRCC and regulator websites before you budget. All figures are in Canadian dollars.<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-608\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-608\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\">Cost type<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">Approximate amount (CAD)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">Credential assessment (NNAS)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">CAD 750 to 845<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">Provincial assessment and licensing<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">About CAD 470<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">Registration exam (NCLEX-RN)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">Billed by the NCSBN in US dollars; check the current fee<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-5\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">Jurisprudence exam<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">About CAD 45<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-6\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">First-year membership fee<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">About CAD 475<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-7\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">Express Entry fees<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">CAD 1,590 (CAD 990 processing + CAD 600 RPRF)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-8\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">Language test and credential assessment<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">About CAD 500<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-9\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">Biometrics, medical exam, police certificate<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">About CAD 300<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-10\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">Approximate total<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">CAD 4,130 to 4,225, plus NCLEX; figures are indicative, confirm each fee with the body that charges it<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-608 from cache -->\n<h2>Best provinces for nurses moving to Canada<\/h2>\n<p>Provinces are actively recruiting nurses to shore up their health systems. The ones with the most visible nurse-focused streams are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>British Columbia<\/strong>, through the health authority and health care professional categories of the BC PNP<\/li>\n<li><strong style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Saskatchewan<\/strong>, through its International Health Worker EOI for nurses who are fluent in English or French and have at least one year of post-qualification experience<\/li>\n<li><strong style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Nova Scotia<\/strong>, through the Nova Scotia Nominee Program, for nurses holding a valid work permit or Canadian permanent residence with at least one year of work experience in the province<\/li>\n<li><strong style=\"font-size: 16px;\">New Brunswick<\/strong>, through its stream for internationally educated nurses (IEN), for candidates fluent in English or French with at least one year of post-qualification experience<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"test\">These provinces target nurses through health care specific draws, including the federal category-based Express Entry rounds for health care occupations. A high CRS score improves your position in those rounds, but no score guarantees an invitation or a positive decision.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Read more: <a href=\"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/en\/blog\/immigrate-to-canada-as-a-dentist\/\">immigration to Canada for dentists<\/a><\/div>\n<h2>Nurse immigration to Canada with Aval Visa<\/h2>\n<p>Openings for nurses in Canada continue to grow. Whether you already meet the requirements to work there, or you want to study nursing at a Canadian institution first, Aval Visa can map the route and prepare the file with you.<\/p>\n<p>Aval Visa is led by Hadi Imani, a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC #R522575) regulated by the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants. We advise on Canadian immigration only. Contact us for an assessment of your profile, help with the paperwork, advice on which provinces suit your specialty, and support applying for nursing positions. No consultant can promise an outcome; what we can do is make sure your application is complete, honest and filed under the right program.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequently asked questions<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Which qualification suits management or advanced practice roles?<\/strong><br \/>\nFor leadership or advanced practice nursing, a Master of Nursing is the usual requirement, and it is also the base credential for Nurse Practitioner registration.<\/li>\n<li><strong>What IELTS score do nurses need for Canada?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt depends on the program and the province. The Federal Skilled Worker Program requires CLB 7, which is IELTS 6.0 in each ability. Nursing regulators normally set a higher bar, commonly around 6.5 to 7.0 with a higher requirement in speaking and listening, so check the regulator in your target province.<\/li>\n<li><strong>How much do nurses earn in Canada?<\/strong><br \/>\nPay varies by province, experience and specialty. Check the current wage data for your NOC code and region on the Government of Canada&#8217;s Job Bank rather than relying on a single national range.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A complete guide to immigrating to Canada as a nurse: licence categories, documents, the steps in order, application costs in CAD and what regulators check.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":21531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-immigration-to-canada","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23839"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25007,"href":"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23839\/revisions\/25007"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}