A nurse with a master's degree who can diagnose, order tests and prescribe. Two degrees, six figures, huge demand.
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Programs in the fields this career usually comes through. Each has its own page: what it takes to get in, the courses you need and what it costs.
The median pay is about $128,000 a year. Across everyone in the job it runs from about $87,000 at the lower end to about $156,000 at the upper end. The source is listed under Sources at the end of this page.
8 to 9 years after high school, on the usual route.
$46,000 to $72,000 all in for tuition, fees, exams and kit. Living costs are not counted.
Yes. It is a regulated job, so you need a licence or registration before you can work.
Very high demand nationally, from government outlook data. Demand varies by region, so check your area.
Or read the whole thing here
What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Median
$128,000
Lower end
$87,000
Upper end
$156,000
Most NPs (nurse practitioners) are salaried. Job Bank's national median is $61.54 an hour, about $128,000 a year at 40 hours a week, The lower end ($42) and upper end ($75) are the bottom and top of the wage range for everyone in the group.
$63.66 an hour
The least an Ontario hospital can pay a new NP (nurse practitioner), about $124,000 a year
The minimum first step set in September 2025 for hospitals under the Ontario Nurses' Association agreement, at 37.5 hours a week for full time. The minimum after 8 years is $74.46. Community clinics set their own pay.
$62.00 an hour
The median in Ontario, the highest of any province
British Columbia is next at $59.53, and Prince Edward Island is the lowest, at $50.65. Job Bank has no figure for the territories.
Roughly, all in
$46,000 to $72,000
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
The low end is a four year nursing degree at the cheaper end of Canadian tuition, the NCLEX-RN (the registered nurse licensing exam), a two year nurse practitioner master's degree, the practitioner licensing exam and the registration fees. The high end is the same eight or nine years at higher tuition. Almost everyone works as a registered nurse for a few years between the two degrees, so the master's is usually paid out of a salary rather than borrowed, and some employers and provinces cover that tuition in return for a service commitment. The registered nurse exam fee is rising in 2027, so budget a little more if you qualify after that.
Roughly $46,000 to $72,000 total before living costs. Most people work as an RN (registered nurse) for years between the two degrees, so the master's is often paid for out of a nursing salary.
A defined-benefit pension
One that pays a set amount every month for life. HOOPP (the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan) in Ontario hospitals; similar public plans elsewhere.
Extended health and dental
Paid vacation and sick days
Often 4 weeks or more with seniority.
Union protection in hospitals
Community clinics vary.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
Become a registered nurse, work for a few years, then do a master's degree.
High school
Grades 11 and 12
Grade 12 English, biology, chemistry and a math. Nursing admission is competitive.
BScN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing)
4 years
A four-year nursing degree with clinical placements. Universities offer it, and in Ontario many colleges do too.
Pass the NCLEX-RN (the registered nurse exam) and work as an RN (registered nurse)
2 or more years
Ontario's shared program asks for the equivalent of 2 years of full-time nursing within the past 5 years, about 3,640 hours, and many applicants have more.
Master's degree in the NP (nurse practitioner) stream
2 to 4 years
About 2 years full time, or longer part time while you keep nursing. Includes hundreds of supervised clinical hours.
NP exam and registration
A few months
Since July 2026, every NP (nurse practitioner) applicant in Ontario writes one national exam, the CNPLE (Canadian Nurse Practitioner Licensure Exam), 180 to 185 mostly multiple-choice questions over 4 hours. Then you register in the extended class with your provincial nursing college.
Biology
Required for nursing.
Chemistry
Required at most nursing schools.
Math
Any Grade 12 math.
English
A master's degree is a lot of writing.
NP (nurse practitioner) is a protected title. You register as an NP, or in Ontario in the extended class, with your provincial nursing college such as the College of Nurses of Ontario. NPs can diagnose, order tests, prescribe medications including controlled drugs in most provinces, and refer to specialists. Scope differs a little by province, so moving takes slightly more paperwork than for an RN (registered nurse).
Master's programs at most large universities. Some examples:
Nine Ontario universities share one primary care program: McMaster, Ottawa, Queen's, Western, Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), York, Windsor, Lakehead and Laurentian. The University of Toronto runs its own.
Ontario
UBC (University of British Columbia), University of Victoria, University of Northern British Columbia
British Columbia
University of Alberta, University of Calgary, Athabasca University (online)
Alberta
Dalhousie, Memorial
Atlantic Canada
Quebec calls nurse practitioners IPS (infirmière praticienne spécialisée, specialized nurse practitioner). You train in one of five specialties and pass an exam set by the Quebec order of nurses.
Finish Secondary V
Age 16 or 17
With the science courses the nursing or science program at your CEGEP (public college) asks for.
Bachelor's degree in nursing
Varies
IPS training needs a university nursing degree. Many get it after the nursing DEC (Diploma of College Studies) at a CEGEP (public college).
Pass the OIIQ (Ordre des infirmières et infirmiers du Québec) exam, then work
2 or more years
The nursing exam of the Quebec order of nurses. Then at least 2 years as a nurse, including 1 year with the patients of the specialty you want.
Master's plus a graduate diploma
2 to 3 years
A master's in nursing plus a diploma in medical sciences: at least 510 hours of theory and 950 hours of placements. McGill teaches it in English, about 2.5 years full time.
Work as a candidate
Months
After graduating you hold the title CIPS (candidate IPS, candidate nurse practitioner) while you get ready for the specialty exam.
IPS specialty exam
After graduating
Run by the OIIQ (Quebec order of nurses), in French or English, usually in May and November. $770.33. Pass within 3 years, then you get your specialist certificate.
Each IPS (specialized nurse practitioner) is certified in one class, and you need 1 year of nursing with that class of patients before training. McGill offers all five in English.
Primary care
Soins de première ligne
Adult care
Soins aux adultes
Pediatric care
Soins pédiatriques
Mental health
Santé mentale
Neonatology
Néonatalogie
Things you don't need, but that help.
Primary health care (family, all ages)
The most common stream. Clinics, community health centres, rural towns.
Adult or pediatric acute care
Hospital NPs (nurse practitioners) in the ICU (intensive care unit), cardiology, oncology and emergency.
Remote and northern practice
Nursing stations in Nunavut, the Northwest Territories and northern provinces give you the widest scope.
Doctorate
A DNP (doctor of nursing practice) or PhD for leadership, teaching and research.
Rural or emergency nursing experience
Broad experience is what NP (nurse practitioner) programs want to see.
Precepting nursing students
Shows leadership on your application.
Comfort with being the senior person in the room
In many clinics you are the most senior clinician on site.
A second language
French, or the language of the community you serve.
Ontario funds NP (nurse practitioner) led clinics, where nurse practitioners run the whole practice and physicians consult in. Several provinces are expanding the model to cover people who have no family doctor.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
In a clinic: 15 to 25 patients, 15 to 30 minutes each. Sore throats, diabetes check-ins, prenatal visits, mental health, a rash, a kid with an ear infection. You examine, diagnose, order bloodwork, prescribe and chart. In a hospital: rounds with the team, managing a group of patients, procedures, and being the person nurses call when something changes. Mostly weekdays.
The good
The hard parts
Like the field but not this exact job?
Things people don't tell you.
Nurses in remote northern stations did this work long before the title existed. Ontario started formal nurse practitioner training in 1971, closed its last program in 1983, and only brought it back in the mid-1990s.
NPs (nurse practitioners) in every province can prescribe medications, and most provinces now let them prescribe controlled drugs such as opioids and stimulants. Ontario added that on April 19, 2017.
Job Bank counted about 5,600 nurse practitioners working in Canada in 2023, next to about 363,100 RNs (registered nurses): roughly 1 for every 65.
Every list is built from the same numbers shown above, so you can see where this career sits next to the others.
Nursing and patient care first, then the rest of the field. See every career in health.
Last checked October 2026. Pay figures are typical full-time annual amounts in Canadian dollars, based on Government of Canada Job Bank wage data and published salary grids. They vary by province, employer and experience. Tuition is for domestic students. How every figure on this site is sourced and checked.
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