An overview of Canadian immigration programs for nurses plus new temporary PR pathways available to healthcare workers in Canada
The pandemic has exacerbated the need for nurses and other health professionals in Canada. Even before coronavirus swept the globe, Canada had been experiencing a shortage of nurses, and as such there are a number of immigration pathways targeting these healthcare professionals.
Nurses fall into one of two categories in the Canadian government’s National Occupation Classification (NOC). Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses are NOC 3012, skill level A, while licensed practical nurses are NOC 3233, skill level B. These skill levels are important, because they help determine what kinds of immigration programs that nurses can be eligible for.
As a result of the pandemic, Canada received fewer immigrants in 2020 than it had anticipated. But Canada still wants immigrants. In fact, it recently increased its immigration targets to the highest ever— over 1.2 million from now until the end of 2023. One way to help reach this total is by making it easier for individuals already in the country to make their temporary status permanent.