I know many might say I am crazy but I feel that immigrate to Canada is best for my family. Any USA RN’s experiences to Canada would be helpful, please comment. I wanted to try other provinces but my Husband wants to stay close to boarder so we won’t be too far from family in Michigan. What city in Ontario is great for nursing profession and good for families?
I am a RN from Detroit and want to immigrate with family to Ontario Canada. Any suggestions?
- Thread starter RN grace
- Start date
The first step is to find out if immigration is feasible for your family.
Suggest you start by looking into the Express Entry immigration program to see if you qualify and what your chances are of being selected. This is a points-based program and right now you need around 460 points to be selected out of the applicant pool.
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/express-entry/works.html
If you don't have enough points for Express Entry - you will need to look into the provincial nominee programs. These programs are province by province and this may dictate where you focus on settling.
You'll also want to look into the registration / certification process you'll need to go through to work as an RN in Canada. I believe this is specific to each province.
Is there a good reason you want to move? Have you really researched life in Canada? Some immigrants have unrealistic expectations from the media. I have known nurses who have done the opposite. Getting full-time nursing jobs with benefits can be tough to find although in border towns many nurses may be working in the US. Can your husband find employment in Canada?
My partner's mom (Canadian) is a RN in southwestern Ontario, which is the part you'd most likely want to work in if you wanted to be close to Michigan (think Sarnia, London, Chatham-Kent, Windsor), unless you're looking to be closer to the upper peninsula, in which case you'd look at places near Sudbury/Sault Ste. Marie or Thunder Bay, which are large but relatively isolated communities in Ontario. She was one of the lucky few in her class 30ish years ago to get a position in a Canadian hospital-- most of her classmates went to the US. Nowadays they are not hiring RNs very often and instead hire nursing assistants since they are less expensive to employ but are "essentially the same" (we know they are not, but that's administration for you). Healthcare is very often under tight budget restraints. Because of this, getting a good position as an RN will be challenging for you, but I don't think it would be impossible.
As per scylla's comment, have a look into Ontario's licensing requirements (I think these are them?) and see if immigration to Canada would even be feasible for you and your family.
As per scylla's comment, have a look into Ontario's licensing requirements (I think these are them?) and see if immigration to Canada would even be feasible for you and your family.