Nurse resume for Canada: NNAS, the provincial regulator and two kinds of resume

Start with the province, then check its first step

The National Nursing Assessment Service (NNAS) says plainly that it does not grant licences to practise nursing in Canada; only the nursing regulatory bodies decide whether an application succeeds. Its FAQ says its Advisory Reports are accepted by every Canadian nursing regulator except those of Quebec and the territories.

Read on 13 October 2026, though, the regulators of Ontario and British Columbia describe a different first step on their own pages. The College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) asks for an assessment from one of three approved credential assessment providers. The BC College of Nurses and Midwives (BCCNM) starts with Inspire Global Assessments. So open your province's regulator page before you pay anyone.

Who NNAS is for

NNAS lists three conditions: you finished post-secondary nursing education outside Canada, you have never been licensed in Canada in the profession you are applying for, and, for its Expedited Service, you have been licensed as a nurse outside Canada. Canadian citizens and residents who trained abroad must apply too.

How the NNAS application works

1. Create an account, agree to the terms, set three security questions.
2. Complete the application and pay; the main order stays open for 12 months from payment.
3. Have documents sent; NNAS says most must come from third parties, not from you.
4. Track receipt in the portal and receive the Advisory Report, then apply to the regulator from the portal; the report goes to the regulators you selected.

Documents for the Expedited Service

• Two notarized identity documents that you upload yourself: a current photo ID (expired ones are refused) and a second one such as a birth or marriage certificate. Outside Canada a government-approved official prepares the copies.
• A course-by-course assessment report that you order from an IRCC-approved organisation: CES, ICAS, ICES or WES, sent by them to NNAS.
• The Nursing Registration Form for your first and your current licence: you sign Part A, the licensing authority completes Parts B and C and sends it. Every registration must be disclosed.
• Translations into English or French by the issuing body, a certified translator or NNAS, with the translator's stamp or number, contact details, date, statement and signature.

NNAS stopped collecting language test scores on 14 October 2022. You now send proof of English or French to the regulator directly.

Fees and timelines on the NNAS fee page

Ontario and British Columbia, from their own pages

Ontario: CNO and approved credential assessors

CNO accepts education assessments only from World Education Services (WES), the International Credential Assessment Service of Canada (ICAS) and the International Credential Evaluation Service (ICES) at BCIT, and will not start an application until one of them sends it your documents. It says it will continue to accept NNAS Expedited reports prepared by CGFNS, now TruMerit. The rest of the requirements, in CNO's words, are:

• Practice as a nurse in the category you want (RN or RPN) within the past three years.
• The registration exam: NCLEX-RN for RNs, REx-PN for RPNs, plus an online jurisprudence exam.
• A transition to practice course, offered by several Ontario schools.
• English or French proficiency: one form of evidence gained no more than two years before you apply.
• Canadian citizenship, permanent residence or authorization to practise nursing under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
• A police criminal record check, valid for six months from issue.

CNO gives about 12 months as a guideline for the whole process and closes an application if you have not met every requirement two years after it confirms receipt. Its minimum IELTS scores (Academic or General Training) are 6.5 writing, 7 speaking, 7 listening, 6.5 reading and 7 overall; for OET, C+ writing, B speaking, B listening and C+ reading.

British Columbia: Inspire first, then BCCNM

BCCNM's page tells internationally educated nurses to apply to Inspire Global Assessments, which confirms identity and assesses English, education credentials and nursing knowledge and skills through a competency assessment, and to apply to BCCNM at the same time. BCCNM assesses most applicants for both LPN and RN in one application, recommends holding Canadian work permits before applying, and warns against agencies that offer to file for a fee. It says applicants are more likely to succeed if they studied or practised within the last ten years.

The NCLEX for Canadian registration

The NCLEX site charges $360 CAD (excluding local taxes) to register for Canadian licensure, plus $150 CAD to test outside Canada and the mainland US. Türkiye is on its list of international test centres.

The regulator resume and the employer resume

BCCNM's Form 154, an April 2023 application form still published on its site, asks for a resume with the application and calls the file incomplete without it. Its instructions describe a document no hospital recruiter would want: every nursing and healthcare position you ever held, volunteer roles included, and all healthcare education, online courses included, with no time limit. Keep two files: the full history for the regulator and a two-page version for employers.

A sample entry, written for the regulator

• 09/2019 to present · Registered Nurse, Pediatric Emergency Department · Public hospital, İzmir, Türkiye · Full time · Primary area: pediatric emergency triage and resuscitation
• 03/2017 to 08/2019 · Registered Nurse, Internal Medicine Ward (32 beds) · Public hospital, Manisa, Türkiye · Full time · Primary area: adult medical nursing
• 06/2018 to 12/2018 · Volunteer nurse, earthquake drill programme · Provincial health directorate, Manisa · Part time
• 2016 · Bachelor of Science in Nursing (Hemşirelik Lisans), 4 years · 2022 · Pediatric advanced life support course, 16 hours · 2024 · Online infection control module, 6 hours

The person is invented. The dates on the regulator version must agree with the Nursing Registration Form and any employer verification forms, which reach the regulator without passing through you; BCCNM says those forms come straight from the employer or regulator, in English.

What we read, and when

These routes changed in 2025 and may change again. Check the linked regulator page itself before you pay for any assessment.

Limits of this guide

• Quebec and the territories: NNAS says its reports are not used there, and their rules are not covered here.
• Provinces other than Ontario and British Columbia: read your regulator's page; the NNAS site has a Provincial Resources page as a starting point.
• Nurse practitioners, and health professions other than nursing, which have their own assessment bodies.
• Immigration: CNO and BCCNM both expect you to hold, or plan for, authorization to work; this guide does not cover visas.

Next steps

1. Pick the province and open its regulator's page for nurses educated abroad.
2. Ask your school and your current licensing body which forms they can send directly, and how long they take.
3. Write the full practice history once, with month and year for every role; trim the employer version from it.
4. Book the language test that the regulator, not NNAS, accepts.

CitedCV can turn the facts you enter into the two-page English employer version and keep your dates identical to the ones you gave; it does not fill in regulator forms. For a general Canadian resume, the clinical-unit wording and the US route, see the guides below.

Questions people ask

Sources

1. NNAS: Feeswww.nnas.ca/fees/
2. NNAS: Application Process & Timelinewww.nnas.ca/application-process-timeline/
3. NNAS: Important Documentswww.nnas.ca/documents/
4. NNAS: Eligibilitywww.nnas.ca/eligibility/
5. NNAS: Frequently Asked Questionswww.nnas.ca/faqs/
6. College of Nurses of Ontario: Registration guide, nurses educated outside Canadawww.cno.org/become-a-nurse/registration-guides/outside-canada
7. College of Nurses of Ontario: Approved Educational Credential Assessment Service Providerswww.cno.org/become-a-nurse/approved-educational-credential-assessment-service-providers
8. College of Nurses of Ontario: Accepted language proficiency testscno.org/become-a-nurse/registration-requirements/proficiency-in-english-or-french/accepted-language-proficiency-tests
9. BCCNM: Internationally educated nurses (RN)www.bccnm.ca/RN/applications_registration/how_to_apply/InternationalEN/Pages/Default.aspx
10. BCCNM: Form 154, Application for Internationally Educated Nurse Registration (April 2023)www.bccnm.ca/Documents/registration_application/Form154_All_Application_for_Registration_for_IEN.pdf
11. NCLEX: Fees & Paymentwww.nclex.com/fees-payment.page
12. NCLEX: Testing Locationswww.nclex.com/testing-locations.page