My husband, RJ, and I are both registered nurses (RNs) who recently relocated from the United States (U.S.). We’ve moved around quite a bit for travel nursing since 2021. We started in San Antonio and Austin, Texas; then to Tacoma, Baltimore and Maryland, Washington; and finally, Bremerton, Washington, which sits on the peninsula about a half-hour ferry ride from Seattle, before we decided to make the move to British Columbia (B.C.).
I wish we had moved to Canada earlier! You often see this same sentiment in social media from others who have also relocated to Canada, and I am echoing that.
The timing was perfect. The Province of British Columbia recognized an opportunity for American RNs to practice in B.C., and opened a pathway to streamline applications. What would have taken six months and a cost a significant amount up-front per person, was reduced to a fraction of that cost and the process took us under a month. I think in any other circumstance; we would have had a hard time transferring our RN licenses to B.C.
My husband is Canadian and lived in Ontario until his pre-teen years, so moving to Canada was always part of our long-term plan. Originally, we intended to relocate in four years, but when B.C. introduced a streamlined process for U.S. RNs, we accelerated our timeline to just four months.
We thought we had a good experience with unions coming from Washington State, but the BC Nurses Union (BCNU) really surprised us! It was an added bonus that we could stay in the Pacific Northwest and continue enjoying its beautiful views and lifestyle.
We chose Fraser Health at first because of the location and area it serves. We were unsure about where exactly we wanted to live, we just knew we wanted to live a little outside of Vancouver and Burnaby. New Westminster and Surrey was generally where we wanted to end up.
My husband and I both currently work in the same unit, holding the same job title and have done travel nursing for a little over a year. We have quite a lot of experience with electronic charting and various forms and when we learned that Fraser Health had implemented electronic charting, we were relieved knowing we’d encounter something somewhat familiar. Meditech Expanse electronic charting will have a learning curve, but the documentation burden is a lot less than what we were used to.
Initially my husband and I were somewhat convinced we might have challenges with the high cost of living in B.C. and wondered if we had enough money to support ourselves during the first few months. The first month was a challenge [when we were getting settled] and when we didn’t have any income. But once we started working, we found that we were actually doing financially better than in the U.S.
Working in Canada is similar enough to our experience in the United States. We have noticed some differences, however, and have been learning to double and triple check our work as some of the terms used for devices are different, for example. I would recommend focusing on the generic names as they are the same.
Fraser Health has been very generous with orientation time and is very supportive if you  require extra time with your orientation – you can transition to practicing independently when you are ready. The nurses here are great advocates for themselves and for their patients. I thought I had worked at a great union hospital in Washington, but having a union that represents nurses and their managers across the province is unmatched.
I would have never dreamed of the benefits we receive here in B.C. The vacation time is completely separate from your sick time accrual and you’re not penalized, instead encouraged, for wanting a work-life balance. You work some weeks for four days, but I honestly feel that the two and a half hours of collective breaks make a huge difference. There are still hard days at work, but these benefits and the improved quality of life make it all worth it.
We received a relocation bonus upon moving which was helpful for our transition, especially for two RNs. I think the most valuable aspect was how communicative the recruitment and management team were when we had (a lot) of questions. I received all the information and directions I needed within a day of accepting the job offer to apply the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) work permit. We applied to a few other health authorities but found Fraser Health to be the most responsive and communicative, which was a positive sign for us.
What I love most about my job is that my passion for nursing has been reignited! I not only feel appreciated by my patients on a much greater level, but I also feel like I am able to do more for them under Canada’s publicly funded health system.
