How to be Licensed as an RN in Canada

To be licensed as an RN in British Columbia, IENs must begin the nursing registration process with the CRNBC (College of Registered Nurses of British Columbia) and apply with the required documents and credentials for evaluation. Please note that it may take up to 2 months or more before you get a response from the CRNBC.
Most provinces in Canada will not accept your application until after you have achieved all of their requirements, including English. Once you have achieved all of the provincial regulatory body's English & registration requirements, you should apply ASAP to that regulatory body.

After assessing your application, if the CRNBC deems that you have met the requirements, they will grant you eligibility to take the SEC (Substantially Equivalent Competency) Assessment, advise you how long your assessment will be and ask you to schedule your SEC date.

Please note: It is not necessary to apply for a SEC date right away. In fact, it would be more beneficial to schedule your SEC assessment for a date following the completion of the Canadian Nursing Review component of your program at OMNI College. This will ensure that by the time of your SEC assessment, you will have reviewed the competencies required to practice as a Nurse in Canada.

what is SEC Accessment?

The SEC is not a test with a pass or fail result. It is an assessment of your professional nursing knowledge, skills, values, judgement & critical thinking; & the ability to apply these safely, competently & ethically under Canadian standards. It will be at least 2 days and up to 5 days in duration, depending on your experience and education.

Depending on how well the IEN does on the SEC it will determine how many and what kind of further requirements or training they will have to fulfill before they are deemed work-safe for the Canadian workforce and be eligible to write the CRNE.

What if you do poorly on the SEC?

Doing poorly on the SEC may result in having to complete a 1 year refresher program at a local public university, or perhaps even complete a 4 year BScN.

What if I do well on the Sec?

Doing really well on the SEC may result in only having to complete a short (as little as 1 day) orientation class on Nursing in Canada, or no requirements at all. THE CRNE (Canadian Registered Nurse Exam) The CRNE is pass or fail, and it can only be taken up to 3 times. An IEN can apply for a test date for the CRNE when they have completed the SEC assessment and its resulting requirements. The dates for the CRNE are already set in advance (the 1st Wednesday of February, June and October of every year) and must be applied for at least 2 months in advance of the date perferred. As of January 2015, the CRNE will be replaced by the Canadian NCLEX-RN exam.

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Though admission process and requirements vary from institution to institution in Canada, we will give you information about the most general procedures and requirements to get admission into Canadian Universities and Colleges.