Care for patients in hospitals, clinics and homes. In demand everywhere in Canada.
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Pay, the path, pros and cons and the facts on one printable page. Good for a wall or a guidance counsellor.
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What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Typical
$90,000
New grad
$62,000
Senior
$113,000
Full-time, before overtime. Job Bank's national range is $30 to $54 an hour, with a median of $43, about $90,000 a year at full-time hours. Most hospital nurses are unionized and paid on a grid that rises every year for about 8 to 9 years.
$30 to $40 an hour
About $62,000 to $80,000 a year at full-time hours
Ontario, Alberta and BC start near the top of that range. Atlantic provinces start a little lower.
$50 to $55 an hour
Roughly $105,000 to $115,000 with shift premiums
Nights, weekends and overtime add real money. Many nurses working extra shifts clear well over $100,000.
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
The low end is a four year BScN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) at a cheaper university with books, uniforms, the licensing exam and your first registration. The high end is a more expensive program with higher clinical and equipment fees. The NCLEX (National Council Licensure Examination), the national licensing test, costs about 360 dollars now and rises to 570 in 2027, and provincial registration is a few hundred dollars every year for the rest of your career. Quebec residents pay far less than these figures, and many hospitals help with tuition in exchange for a work commitment.
Roughly $35,000 to $45,000 total before living costs. Quebec tuition is much lower for residents.
Defined-benefit pension
HOOPP (the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan) is one of the best pensions in the country.
Extended health and dental
Paid sick days and vacation
Typically 3 to 4 weeks to start, rising with seniority.
Shift premiums
Extra per hour for evenings, nights and weekends.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
There is one main road to becoming an RN (registered nurse) in Canada.
High school
Grades 11 and 12
Grade 12 English, biology, chemistry and a math. Strong marks matter, admission is competitive.
Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN)
4 years
Four-year university degree with clinical placements from year two. Some colleges offer it in partnership with a university.
Write the NCLEX-RN (the national nursing exam)
After graduation
The national licensing exam. Computer-adaptive, up to 5 hours. Most Canadian grads pass on the first try.
Register with your provincial college
A few weeks
Each province has its own nursing regulator. Registration lets you legally use the title RN.
Biology
Required almost everywhere.
Chemistry
Required at most schools.
Math
Any Grade 12 math, functions or data management.
English
Required. Nursing involves a lot of writing.
Every province has accredited programs. A few examples:
University of Toronto, McMaster, Western, Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU, formerly Ryerson)
Ontario
University of British Columbia (UBC), University of Victoria, BCIT (British Columbia Institute of Technology)
British Columbia
University of Alberta, University of Calgary
Alberta
Dalhousie, Memorial, University of New Brunswick (UNB)
Atlantic Canada
You cannot call yourself a registered nurse without being registered with your provincial college, for example the College of Nurses of Ontario or the BC College of Nurses and Midwives. Registration must be renewed every year and includes continuing education requirements. Moving provinces means transferring your registration, which is usually straightforward.
Things you don't need, but that help.
Critical care or ICU (intensive care unit) certification
Extra training, higher-acuity work, often a premium.
Emergency nursing certification (ENC(C))
Canadian Nurses Association certification.
Operating room nursing
Post-grad certificate, in short supply.
Nurse Practitioner
Master's degree, 2 years. Nurse practitioners (NPs) diagnose, prescribe and earn $110,000 to $140,000.
Volunteer at a hospital or long-term care home
Shows you know what the work is really like.
First aid and CPR
Required before clinical placements anyway.
A second language
French is a real asset in federal and Quebec jobs.
Agency and travel nursing contracts pay well above staff rates, sometimes $70 to $100 an hour plus housing, especially in the North and rural areas. You give up the pension and stability. Most nurses do it for a few years, not a career.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
Hospital nurses usually work 12-hour shifts, often 3 or 4 a week, rotating days and nights. You take report at handover, assess your patients, give medications, coordinate with doctors and families, chart everything, and respond when things change fast. Clinic and community nurses work more regular daytime hours.
The good
The hard parts
Like the field but not this exact job?
Things people don't tell you.
There were more than 350,000 registered nurses in Canada in 2025, by far the largest regulated health profession in the country.
Only about 1 in 10 Canadian registered nurses are men, though the share has been rising for two decades.
A Canadian nursing degree (BScN) is recognized in the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand with some extra paperwork. Nursing is one of the most portable degrees you can hold.
Every province except Quebec adopted the American NCLEX-RN (nursing licensing) exam in 2015. The same test licenses nurses on both sides of the border. Quebec runs its own exam.
Last checked September 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.