NURSING UNDER-BOARDS, NNAS
- Thread starter AnjS.
- Start date
This should be a good start:
https://www.nnas.ca/
https://www.nnas.ca/timelines-and-fees/
https://www.nnas.ca/application-process-overview/
As mentioned you need to have your credentials verified by NNAS. Transcripts have to be sent to them direct from your school in the PH. They evaluate them and send their results to the nursing board of the province you choose who will advise you what, if anything you need to do in order to meet the requirements based on what you want to be, ie: RN, RPN
A friend of mine has just gone through that process, same situation as you, from PH and not licensed. Without getting into too much detail here are some of your options.
1. If you want to be an RN you will have to go to school here for 4 years to get a Bachelors, your schooling in the PH will not count at all.
2. For RPN since you are an IEN, International Educated Nurse, you can take a refresher course at a college that offers it and then write the RPN exam. Those colleges are mainly around major cities. If not you could take a 2 year RPN course that most colleges offer, mostly done on-line.
3. You can return to the PH, pass the board exams, do your practical, return here and you can write the RPN exam.
4. For a PSW you only need to take a 6 month college course.
Right now in Ontario there are government grants that will pay for most if not all tuition for any of the positions I mentioned.
Due to nursing shortages many provinces are trying to make licensing for foreign trained nurses easier. Would suggest speaking to the licensing boards in all the provinces to see what relicensing programs each offer and whether you can work as a PSWp, for example, while you try to get licensed as an RN. The relicensing process has been changing and getting easier because it was ridiculously difficult before so it is important to keep track of what is going on in each provinces.
For internationally educated nurses (IENs) from the Philippines, going through the National Nursing Assessment Service (NNAS) is definitely the first big step. It’s really helpful to know the different pathways, especially that an RN path usually means completing a full 4-year program in Canada, while becoming an RPN might allow more flexibility with a refresher course or a shorter college program. It’s also good to hear about the Ontario grants—makes it way more accessible for newcomers.