Getting Started

The two organizations I am working with are the College of Nurses of Ontario (www.cno.org)  and Citizenship and Immigration Canada (http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/index-can.asp).

The possibility exists to have an employer hire you and do all the paper work so that you can live and work in Canada.  If you do not have a specialty and a lot of experience, or like in my case, if you are a new graduate RN, this is probably not going to happen for you.  I believed that I would be offered a job and that would be my "in."  I can't believe how silly that notion was now that I know better.

If you are not coming to Canada as a US citizen married to a Canadian, then I would not discourage you from getting your Ontario RN and trying to find a job, but be aware of the time involved.  It will take you approximately 1 year to complete the process with the CNO.  You will benefit greatly from having a strong area of expertise.  Education would be my primary focus if I were doing this on my own. Another leg up will be to hone your French skills, if you happen to have any.  Or for that matter if you plan to relocate to the Toronto area,  any foreign language skills.  Toronto is truly a melting pot and they need interpreters in about any language you can imagine.  A multilingual nurse would be a terrific asset to local hospitals.

My immigration redo:  I would have filled out the application during our engagement and had it and the money ready to go as soon as the i was dotted in I do!

If you will be staying in the United States until your immigration is complete, then you will have a slightly different experience than my own.  We chose to be together during this time.  Canadian border immigration has given me what is called a "visitor record."  It is attached to my passport, it states that I am married to a Canadian and it gave me 12 months to be in the country.  I am currently on my second visitor record.  They have been very kind and accommodating when we have gone to get these records.  We were told they do not want to keep us apart, and that made me feel very good.   The upside is obvious, the down side is that I am not able to work.  There is a slightly shorter time frame for processing if you are not with your spouse.  In my case the process is slated to take 13 months and cost $975.  The link to sponsored immigration is: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/sponsor/spouse.asp

The first step in obtaining your Ontario RN is applying to the CNO.  You must request an application packet online and then it is emailed to you.  I did not receive a packet after my first request.  There seemed to be a problem with my email, so I began to use my husbands email and that has worked without any issues.  The email should come fairly rapidly, I would say within 24 hours on weekdays.  If you do not see it in your email check your spam and if it is still not there phone the CNO and get them to resend.  I doubt this is a common problem, but like everything in this process it was one I got to have.  This is the link to apply from outside of Canada:  http://www.cno.org/en/become-a-nurse/new-applicants1/outside-canada/ and this is the link for inside Ontario:  http://www.cno.org/en/become-a-nurse/new-applicants1/ontario/

The application fee is $231.65 and the fee to have them evaluate the nursing program I completed (they call this PLAR, Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition) is $1,130.00.  I completed and submitted these forms and fees before my graduation, however, they will not proceed with your evaluation until you have graduated from University and had a transcript sent from your school to the CNO.  That is when the clock begins for the 4 months they promise it will take to do the PLAR.  I did not know they would wait until I graduated and I was disappointed when I realized that starting early with the paperwork did not jump start my application.  I am glad I did this early because after graduation all I had to do was have WVU send proof of my graduation (via transcript), the WV RN board sent a verification that I was qualified to take the NCLEX  (more on this form later) and I mailed them a copy of my diploma.   

When my 4 month mark came and I still had not heard from the CNO I began calling them to check on the status of my application.  They told me to call back in two weeks.  When I called back at the 4 1/2 month mark, they told me it still was not done.  I asked who was going to assure me that it was done, and when it would be done.  I was very upset! We had paid them a large amount of money to preform a service and it was not getting done.  I was given a phone number for the customer service supervisor.  I began to call him multiple times a day leaving my phone number, email address, times I would call back to assure he might be able to answer my call.  I never received any communication from him but after a week of multiple calls a day, I called back to the main customer service number and I was told that my file was assigned to an evaluator.  I was able to speak to her almost immediately, and that afternoon she had my evaluation complete and in the mail to me. If I had not been persistent with my phone calls I have no idea how long I would have been sitting in the pile.  My suggestion would be to call immediately at the 4 month mark and ask that your file be given to an evaluator.  The customer service personnel cannot do anything more than report what is in your file, so you will need to ask for a manager or supervisor.  I have been very patient with them, understanding that this is not something they have any control over.  They just answer the phones.

Phone calls to the CNO are a lengthy process.  They appear to be very short staffed and my phone calls are generally 30-45 minutes, 28-43 of those minutes are spent on hold.  Just be prepared.  You can get angry and frustrated about it, but it won't change anything.  I hope that soon they invest in the technology so that we all have accounts online and utilizing a password or our applicant number, that we can go online and check the status ourselves.  There really isn't a good reason for them to have to do this for all of us, but right now, it is the system that is in place and it takes a very long time.

My application redo:  I actually did a great job with this with the exception of the form from the WV RN Board to the CNO. (I keep trying to find the name of the form and I can't find it because it is part of the application packet and I do not have access to that online,  but I believe it is called the B1/ B2.)  I did not realize that after graduation that I needed to send that form to WV RN Board.  I didn't know what to do with it, though it was part of my packet.  I should have asked the CNO what I was supposed to do with it.  When my evaluator completed my packet this was something I was informed was missing. I mailed it to WV and then I called a couple of weeks later to make sure the CNO had it on file, but they did not.   When I called the WV RN Board they had to find the form because it had been laid aside,  and then told me they needed $35 to put the official seal onto a document.  I sent them a money order and with the very slow mail it took 3 weeks for them to receive the money and get it back to the CNO.   Two lessons here:  If you have an official form and you don't know what to do with it, ask!  And... before asking anyone to do anything for you ask how much it costs!

This mistake was my biggest time waster.  What seems like a small mistake pushed me past the  deadline to register for the October CRNE.  I missed it by 10 days.  In 2015 Canada is changing to a new exam and format.  The exam is being written by NCLEX but it is not the US NCLEX.  My hope is that the testing will be as it is in the US.  (Contact the testing site, schedule a time that works for you.)  Currently the CRNE is offered 3 times a year, and you must register for the exam 3 months in advance.  I have literally been sitting and waiting for the exam, qualified to take it yet unable to do so, for the past 7 months. 

My next blog posting will describe the immigration and work permit system as I understand them, and different avenues toward employment.  I know this was long and has a lot of information but it is the most overwhelming part of the process.

Take a big breath!
Stephanie