Foreign Worker Programs: Nursing Occupations

Foreign Worker Home > Health Care > Nursing Occupations

This section contains information on the following topics:

Regulation of the entry of foreign workers is a Federal responsibility. The authority to grant entry to foreign workers rests with the Department of Citizenship & Immigration Canada (CIC). In most instances CIC must first request a labour market opinion, known as a Confirmation, from Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC).

HRDC Confirmation: General Nursing Occupations

Foreign nurses coming to Canada as temporary workers must have offers of employment that have been confirmd by HRDC unless they are seeking entry under the provisions contained in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) or the Canada Chile Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA).

Normally, before any consideration can be given to a request for confirmation of an offer of employment to a foreign worker, the employer must provide documented evidence that they:

have thoroughly explored the Canadian labour market by way of extensive advertising and recruitment activities;
have offered wages and working conditions that were normal for the occupation and area;
were unable to obtain a suitable candidate from among qualified Canadian Citizens and Permanent Residents

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Specialized Nursing Occupations

HRDC in Ontario Region, with support from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, has determined from labour market information that the normal confirmation submission requirement will no longer be required of employers in Ontario when recruiting nurses in the following specialty areas:

Critical Care
Intensive Care
Cardiac Care
Emergency
Burn Unit and Care
Neonatal Care
Dialysis/Hemodialysis
Neurosciences
High Risk Labour and Delivery/Maternal Care
Trauma and Neurotrauma
Operating Room
Oncology

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Streamlined HRDC Confirmation Process: Specialized Nursing Occupations

A streamlined two stage recruitment process allows employers with vacancies in these speciality areas to pursue qualified nurses in foreign jurisdictions without a recruitment search in the Canadian labour market while at the same time ensuring that Canadian nurses continue to be given first priority for positions for which they are qualified and available.

The following table outlines the procedures to be followed when recruiting a foreign nurse:

Step	Procedure
1st Stage of Recruitment	The employer will post the full-time specialty nursing vacancy at their work site for 1 week (7 consecutive days).
2nd Stage of Recruitment	The employer will post the full-time specialty nursing vacancy for a period of no less than 3 weeks (21 consecutive days) on the Ontario Hospital Association web site.
Assessment of Applicants	The employer will assess first, and give priority to, Canadian and Permanent Resident applicants. The employer may select a qualified foreign applicant to fill a specialty position if no Canadians or Permanent Resident applicants are found to be qualified and available.
Application to HRDC	The employer must request a confirmd offer of employment from HRDC when a foreign applicant is selected to fill the specialty vacancy. The request must include: a completed Nursing Specialists: Foreign Worker Application and Recruitment Summary form. a copy of the internal job posting including the dates the vacancy was posted. a copy of the Ontario job posting from the web site including the dates that the vacancy was posted.
HRDC Processing	HRDC will notify: the employer in writing upon approval of the request for a foreign worker. the CIC processing post that was identified by the employer.
Application to CIC	The foreign nurse will initiate an application for a work permit with CIC.

Processing of Nurses Under NAFTA

The Professional category of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) allows employers to hire registered nurses who are citizens of the United States or Mexico on a temporary basis without recourse to the HRDC confirmation process.

NAFTA requirements and steps in the application process are outlined in the FAQ entitled: Registered Nurses - Employment in Canada under NAFTA.