RN Work Permit for Ontario

It took three days for the Innisfil police to complete my background check and after submitting it to my new employer, the County of Simcoe, I immediately received my offer letter.  On Friday, Mother nature decided to be very fickle and dumped a very ugly ice storm on the area.  I chose to play it safe and didn't travel as I had planned.

Yesterday it was beautiful and I made a painless trip to the border in Buffalo.  I needed every piece of documentation that I brought, but in less than 30 minutes I was given a work permit.

My documentation:

Passport

Job offer letter

Diploma (a copy, I didn't take the real thing)

State of WV, RN license

Letter from the CNO which states that I met the educational requirement to sit for the CRNE

Letter from the CNO which states that I passed the CRNE

I had a letter and envelope ready to go to the CNO and on the way home I asked my phone (sometimes I really love Siri) to advise me about where I could go to send a fax.  I wound up at a privately run print shop in Vaughn, ON.  The owner made a copy of the work permit to send in regular mail as well as faxing the letter I wrote and the work permit, I am not sure if they will accept the document via fax so I did both.  She said, "I don't know what this document is but it looks important."  I replied, "You are holding my paycheck in your hands!"  I briefly explained that I have been trying for 16 months to obtain the right to work as a nurse, and that it is my work permit.  

Her dog sniffed me and got some attention.  She told me about her grandchild who is due to arrive in May and I showed her pictures of my grandson who is 22 months old.  Then she still hadn't told me what I owed her, so I asked and she said "nothing, don't worry about it." It was such a sweet act of kindness at the end of this very long road.  It reminded me that there are truly kind people everywhere.  She wished me luck and I was on my way back home.

The CNO has to send me my final application and I will return that with my annual membership fee.  Then I am finished and I can go to work.  I cannot believe this is really almost done. It feels somewhat surreal.  Pretty soon I will be back in the work force and complaining about being too tired just like very other nurse!

With a happy heart,

Stephanie