Getting Your UK, Irish or Australian Nursing Degree Recognized in Canada Through NNAS
By Muntasir Minhaz • Published Aug 19, 2026 • Canadians Studying Abroad
If you trained as a registered nurse in the UK, Ireland or Australia and want to work as a nurse in Canada, the National Nursing Assessment Service (NNAS) is your starting point for most provinces. NNAS reviews your education, license and identity documents, then sends a report to the provincial regulator you choose, though British Columbia now uses a different assessment provider instead of NNAS.
📩 NNAS Expedited Service costs $750 CAD and assesses RN and LPN credentials together
🏠 British Columbia's BCCNM uses Inspire Global Assessments, not NNAS
🎓 NNAS sends its report to the regulator, who decides if you need bridging education before you register
⏱️ NNAS does not issue refunds once you apply
Why NNAS exists
Canada does not let you walk from a UK, Irish or Australian nursing license straight into a Canadian one. Before you can register with most provincial nursing regulators, your foreign nursing education and license need verification by a recognized credentialing body. For the large majority of provinces, that body is the National Nursing Assessment Service (NNAS) , which describes itself as a credentialing service for internationally educated nurses and the first step toward becoming a nurse in Canada.
A UK or Irish nursing degree taught in English does not skip this step. Canada's nursing regulators are provincial, and each one sets its own standard for what counts as equivalent training, so even a nursing qualification that looks similar to a Canadian one on paper still goes through formal assessment.
What NNAS actually checks
NNAS verifies your identity, your nursing education, and your existing license or registration from the UK, Ireland, Australia, or any other country. It does not decide whether you can practice in Canada. That decision belongs to the provincial regulator you apply to, using the NNAS report as one input among others.
NNAS runs two pathways. The Expedited Service assesses your RN and LPN credentials together for one fee and lets you send the resulting report to multiple regulators of the same profession at no extra cost. The RPN Pathway applies if you are not eligible for the expedited route, and it charges separately for each additional regulator or profession.
What it costs
| Service | Base fee | Additional regulator, same profession |
|---|---|---|
| Expedited Service | $750 CAD ($525 USD) | No extra fee |
| RPN Pathway | $845 CAD ($650 USD) | $70 CAD ($55 USD) |
Extra costs apply if you need document translation, if you reactivate an expired application, or if you appeal an assessment decision. Check the NNAS fees page directly before you apply, since these figures can change. NNAS does not issue refunds once you submit, so confirm your eligibility before you pay.
The one major exception: British Columbia
If your target province is British Columbia, do not start with NNAS. The BC College of Nurses and Midwives (BCCNM) routes internationally educated nurses through a different assessment provider, Inspire Global Assessments, which evaluates your identity, English proficiency, education credentials and nursing skills before BCCNM reviews your file. Confirm which assessment body your target province currently uses before you pay any fee, since applying to the wrong body wastes both money and time.
Quebec is also an exception
Quebec does not use NNAS or the NCLEX-RN. The Ordre des infirmieres et infirmiers du Quebec (OIIQ) runs its own French-language assessment and licensing exam for internationally educated nurses. If Quebec is your target, NNAS is not part of your path at all.
After the report lands
Once your assessment report reaches your chosen regulator, the regulator decides whether your UK, Irish or Australian education is substantially equivalent to a Canadian nursing program. Many applicants get asked to complete bridging or transitional courses to close specific gaps, commonly around Canadian health law, pharmacology differences, or clinical hour requirements. You still need to pass the licensing exam the regulator requires, which for most provinces outside Quebec means the NCLEX-RN.
NNAS does not replace the regulator, it feeds it
Treat the NNAS report as an input, not an outcome. NNAS itself does not grant, deny or predict your eventual license. It packages your verified education and licensure history into a standard format so your chosen regulator can make its own substantial equivalency decision faster than if it had to verify everything from scratch. Two applicants with an identical NNAS report can still get different outcomes from their regulators, since the regulator applies its own current standards on top of the NNAS findings.
This is also why picking your target regulator before you apply matters so much. Sending the same NNAS report to two different provinces, where the Expedited Service allows it, does not guarantee the same result from both, since each regulator reviews the file independently.
How long to expect
NNAS assessment timelines vary by how quickly your former nursing school and licensing body respond to verification requests. UK, Irish and Australian institutions generally have established verification processes with NNAS, but delays still happen if you request documents at the last minute. Start the document collection process as early as possible, ideally before you leave the country where you trained, since some documents are harder to obtain once you are no longer local to your nursing school.
Before you apply
Pick your target province first. Your assessment path depends on it.
Gather your nursing transcript, proof of licensure, and identity documents from the UK, Ireland or Australia before you start, since delays in document verification are the most common holdup.
Budget for translation costs if any of your documents are not already in English or French.
Expect the assessment, any required bridging education, and the licensing exam to take longer than a domestic new graduate's path.