Nursing

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.

We recommend you begin your OzTREKK application about a year before your program would start. Most programs in Australia start between January and March, so that means you would start your OzTREKK application between January and March the year prior.

Here’s how the typical “cycle” works if your program starts January – March:

March – May: You gather all required documents like passport photo page, transcripts, résumé, personal statement, and send them to our office. Don’t worry, we’ll tell you exactly what we need!

June – August: Interviews (if your program requires one)

September – December: Offer time! If you get an offer, we’ll walk you through the acceptance (or decline) process and give you all the help you need to get ready to go.

January – March: Time to head Down Under!

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, or on a “first come, first served” basis. As soon as they’ve met the quota and the program is filled, they close the applications. So, for a program that has rolling admissions, the earlier you apply the better!

The majority of 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, OzTREKK is always here to help if you have questions.

Unlike in Canada, GPAs in Australia are simple. They are 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.

Learn more on our GPA Conversions page where we list the most common Canadian GPA scales to their corresponding Australian GPA grade.

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 Calculations for more information.

For a transcript to be considered “official,” it must be sent directly from your high school, college, and/or university (either via snail mail or by email). It can even come from you—as long as it arrives in the original, sealed envelope.

To assess your application, universities must see your official transcripts certified by OzTREKK—a requirement of Australian and New Zealand universities and a part of our agreement with them.

By email (preferred method): Your high school, college and/or university can email them to transcripts@oztrekk.com or they can use an official transcript service, like Parchment or MyCreds. When submitting a request for a digital transcript and a password is required, please use OZTREKK1 (all capitals, no spaces). If you have a character limit or need to set an access pin, please use 1234.

By mail (only if unable to send via email): Please order your transcripts to be sent directly to our office from all institutions where you have studied since high school, including any college studies, exchanges, transfer credits, and/or advanced placement (or IB) studies. Please note, some programs also require high school transcripts; if this is the case, your student advisor will let you know.

Send your documents via FedEx or Purolator, especially when you need your documents to arrive at our office ASAP. If you use Canada Post’s courier Xpresspost, please don’t request a signature, as this can add delays.

OzTREKK
301–1 Sherbrooke Street East
Perth, ON K7H 1A1 Canada

As soon as your transcript arrives, we’ll let you know!

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.

• 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

Please note, one-paragraph course descriptions will not suffice. The university would like to see 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 attached to the email in PDF (do not send PDF links) 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.

Please note OzTREKK must receive the official translation directly from the university or translator in order to certify the document. 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.

The basic registration process can take roughly 9–12+ months, and is as follows:

• You submit your documents to the NNAS. Documents include registration verification, schooling forms, and any employment history. The NNAS Handbook can be a helpful resource for this.
• They put everything together and give your application to your provincial regulatory body.
• The provincial regulatory body will then assess and decide if your credentials are equal to a Canadian nursing program or if you need to do extra schooling and/or placement hours.
• If your studies are deemed equal, you are eligible to write the NCLEX.

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 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.