Practicing as a nurse

Many Canadians wish to fulfill their career goals after getting married, having kids, or both! We’ve had plenty of students who have taken their partner and/or children with them.

If you want to take your partner or family with you, you’ll need to add them as a secondary applicant or dependents to your student visa application. Even if you don’t plan on taking them with you, we suggest you add them to your application anyway because it can be complex, expensive, and time-consuming to add them afterwards. You’ll then need to provide additional documentation to support your claims of a relationship or your children’s dependency status.

In addition to looking after the visa, you’ll also need to ensure they’re included on your Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC), you have appropriate accommodation, and if you’re bringing children, you’ll need to enroll them in school.

Visit our Health Insurance page for more information.

Yes, but you’ll require parental or guardian consent (signature). OzTREKK will provide the necessary documentation for this signature.

If you won’t be 18 when your program starts, you’ll be required to show that you’ll be living with an approved guardian until you turn 18. If you don’t have an approved guardian in Australia, you may need a family member to apply for a guardian visa to accompany you. This guardian visa should be obtained as part of the student visa application.

Absolutely. We manage and submit your application(s) on your behalf and communicate any updates from the universities.

Applying to an Australian or New Zealand university starts by filling out our OzTREKK application: You’ll tell us a bit about yourself, like your name, address, date of birth, education history, and what schools you want to apply to!

When you click “Submit,” the application with all your information only comes to us, so there’s no need to worry about making a mistake at this stage. We create a file for you and email you a list of documents required to complete your application(s), like passport photo page, transcripts, résumé, personal statement.

If you get an offer, we’ll help you with that part, too! Whether you want to accept or decline, we’ll help you figure out your next steps. If you accept your offer, we’ll even help you get ready to go. We’re here to be an advocate for you, and to walk you through the entire process from start to finish.

Should you have any questions along the way, just send us an email or book a chat. That’s why we’re here!

Scholarship options in Australia are usually limited for international students as they tend to be reserved for those undertaking postgraduate research degrees; however, we can advise you where to look and whether specific programs have a history of offering scholarships.

Occasionally, scholarships are granted to high achievers—those with very high marks. In previous years, we have seen $5000- to $10,000-scholarships given to OzTREKK students.

Check out OzTREKK’s Financing page to learn more about scholarships and paying for your degree.

The NMBA now requires nursing applicants to confirm they have completed at least 6 years of primary and secondary education taught and assessed in English in one of the recognized countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Republic of Ireland, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States of America), including at least 2 years between Grades 7 and 12; or that you have successfully completed an English Language test.

Rolling admissions means the university assesses applications as they are received, AKA “first come, first served” or “first come, first offered.” As soon as they’ve met the quota and the program is filled, they usually start a waitlist and close the applications. So, for a program that has rolling admissions, the earlier you apply the better!

Most Canadians applying to full-degree programs in Australia (i.e., not study abroad courses, which usually only last a semester or two) apply through OzTREKK. They’re studying medicine, dentistry, law, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, etc.

Since they’re using OzTREKK’s services, this gives us a good idea of the starting point of a competitive application each year, allowing us to help you determine which universities/programs are most likely to present you with a letter of offer!

You can get started on determining your chances by reviewing the admissions requirements on each program page. Then, visit our GPA Conversions and Eligibility pages for details and suggestions to help you get into the program of your dreams. Of course, we’re always here to help if you have questions.

Unlike in Canada, GPAs in Australia are simple. They’re standardized, so they mean the same thing to everyone.

In Australia, a 5.0/7.0 would roughly translate to a 2.7/4.0 or approximately 70%–72%, but keep in mind all universities assess slightly differently. We leave the official calculations to the universities.

Learn more on our GPA Conversions page where we list the most common Canadian GPA scales to their corresponding Australian GPA grade. If you’re not sure where you land, just reach out!

Prerequisite courses vary by university and by program. We’ve listed university- and program-specific requirements on each program’s page under “Admissions Requirements.”

Calculations differ by university, but most use cumulative (all units within a program) or weighted GPA (typically last 2 or 3 years of study). See GPA Conversions for more information.

An official transcript is one that is

• emailed directly from your university to OzTREKK via an official transcript service like Parchment or MyCreds; or
• mailed directly from your university to OzTREKK.

To process your application(s), universities require your transcripts to be certified, which we do on your behalf.

Some placements required by the provincial nursing college may not be offered as part of the Australian nursing program, or are only offered as elective placements. This means that you may have to do these placements on your own after you graduate. While some people don’t mind, it is something you will want to consider.

Based on what we have heard from previous OzTREKK students, Australian nursing programs do not typically include a maternity/pediatrics section in the course. Those who study nursing in Australia and plan to return to Canada for practice are strongly encouraged to take a maternity and pediatrics placement where available to gain clinical hours to make up for this.

If you do not have the option to take a maternity/pediatrics placement, don’t worry. There are things that you can do to make up for content. For example, you can

• complete a postgraduate midwifery course
• complete bridging courses available in Canada

These details differ from province to province and from program to program, so it is important to contact the provincial body directly to confirm all requirements before starting a nursing program in Australia.

Depending on if you’d like to work in a specialized area, you may need to do extra schooling and/or placement hours. This can take anywhere from a few months to a few years to complete.

A course outline includes all the necessary information about a university course. It will include the course title, the year, the learning goals, the professor’s contact information, reading materials and most important, a weekly learning schedule. This will help the universities to see what you studied on a week-to-week basis and assess if you have covered the material they expect you to know. Course outlines should contain the following information:

• Year and semester date
• Faculty contact information
• Course description
• Hours of study
• Textbook information
• Detailed list of topics that are covered in the course; usually found in a detailed lecture schedule or list of chapter readings

Unfortunately, the universities won’t accept one-paragraph course descriptions; they require course outlines like those handed out at the beginning of the semester, which outline all topics covered within the course. If you do not have copies of these on hand, contact the faculty from which you undertook these courses, as they usually have copies on file.

These course outlines must be uploaded as PDFs to the OzTREKK student portal and labelled in the following manner:

CAPS 391 Human Anatomy I UBC F2015 (COURSE CODE)(Name of Course)(University)(Semester & Year)

When you do this, it helps us be more efficient and move your application(s) at lightning speed.

If your documents are not in English, you must provide full translation of each document, either prepared by your university or by a registered translator. You must not translate the documents yourself.

For translations, have your institution send OzTREKK your official transcript. We’ll certify it and email it to the translator of your choice, directly.

Usually, the translators wait for your payment before completing the translation and returning it to our office. Please read How Do I Send My Transcripts for more information.

While most Bachelor of Nursing programs do not have a set application deadline, you are strongly encouraged to submit your application before the end of September for programs beginning in semester 1 (February/March) and before the end of April for programs beginning in semester 2 (July).

If you’re interested Master of Nursing programs, you should submit your application as early as possible (May or June) as these programs can fill quickly.

For nursing programs, anywhere from a 75% and above cumulative average in your undergraduate degree can be considered competitive; however, if you meet the minimum entry requirements (these vary by university) you can submit an application to that program.

As of now, the option is there for Canadians to work as a nurse in Australia after graduating from an Australian nursing program; however, it is important to keep in mind that this is subject to change and that Australian citizens may have priority to these positions.

To work as a nurse or midwife in Australia, you need to register with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA). Graduates can register with board to become registered nurses in Australia and in many overseas countries. You will also need to apply for a visa (issued by the Australian Department of Home Affairs (Australian Immigration Department), to allow you to work in the country. You will likely need to apply for a Bridging visa in between your student visa and the working visa which will allow you to stay in Australia until your application for a new substantive visa is decided.

If your goal is to practice nursing in Australia, OzTREKK encourages you to contact the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia and the Australian High Commission Office to discuss the process of licensing in Australia for Canadian citizens.

Yes, you can, although you should be familiar with the Canadian certification process for foreign-trained nurses in your province. All nursing professions are regulated in Canada, which means that you must be registered with one of the provincial or territorial regulatory bodies to be authorized to practice as a nurse in Canada.

Students should also be familiar with the program requirements in their province to ensure the Australian nursing program they are considering will be equivalent. In some cases, graduates may be able to supplement missing components here in Canada if the Australian program falls short. These details differ from province to province and from program to program, so it is important to contact the provincial body directly to confirm all requirements before starting a program internationally.

Occasionally, an Australian nursing program does not fully meet the provincial requirement, although applicants may be able to do placements in Canada to meet the requirement and are then able to proceed with the registration. OzTREKK encourages you to contact the provincial regulatory body before applying to an Australian nursing program to ensure you know your options.

We’ve seen Melbourne, UQ, and Sydney with the most applicants, but this may be because those universities are more widely known than some of the others. Once a student becomes aware of his or her options, we tend to see applications spread across the board.