Diploma in Practical Nursing is a diploma in Nursing programme offered by Georgian College in Barrie, Canada. The programme runs for 5 semesters, delivered on campus. Teaching is in English. Tuition for international students is CAD 7,619 per semester (CAD 1,387 per semester for local students).
This five-semester diploma builds practical nursing skills around a philosophy of care, teaching students the knowledge, judgment and competence needed to work within today's complex health system, with high expectations for accountability, collegiality, collaboration, leadership and ethical conduct. Classroom study is paired with simulation laboratory work, individual and team learning activities, and attention to the lived experience of individuals, families, groups and communities. Clinical placements across a range of healthcare settings and agencies in the region let students apply their learning to client care across the lifespan. The program holds Category 1 approval, the highest ranking, from the College of Nurses of Ontario, and current graduates may seek registration in Ontario as Registered Practical Nurses.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: Ontario College Diploma, 2.5 years, and one of the programs Georgian names as highly competitive for Fall 2026 entry at the Barrie campus, where it recommends a 75% average. Entry needs an Ontario Secondary School Diploma or its equivalent, or mature student status, carrying Grade 12 English (C or U), Grade 12 Mathematics (C or U), Grade 11 or 12 Biology (C or U), and either Chemistry or Physics at Grade 12 (C) or Grade 11 or 12 (U). Applicants are assessed and ranked on academic grades, and Georgian recommends at least 75% in every prerequisite subject. Mature applicants aged 19 or over, applicants who did not attend secondary school and home-schooled applicants can also be considered, meeting the requirements through equivalent courses, upgrading, a GED or equivalency testing; credit for prior post-secondary study or relevant life and work learning may be assessed as well.
Before any practicum you must hold a completed and verified Clinical Preparedness Permit. That means a mask fit test, done at the college in semester one and renewed every two years; Level HCP/BLS CPR and Standard First Aid obtained before the program begins, with online courses not accepted and CPR renewed annually while you study; an immunisation record compliant with the Public Hospitals Act, handed in during the first week of classes; and a criminal reference check with vulnerable sector screen kept current — never more than six months old, and obtained roughly three months before a placement, since checks taken earlier may be judged out of date. Anyone charged or convicted criminally without a pardon is barred from starting a clinical or work placement. Placements are arranged across agencies in the region served by your campus, students arrange their own transport, and shifts of 6, 8, 10 or 12 hours can fall on holidays, weekends, nights and evenings, starting as early as 06:00.
Georgian publishes one set of academic prerequisites here for both applicant groups: domestic applicants apply through ontariocolleges.ca, while international applicants apply through Georgian's own applicant portal, where overseas qualifications are assessed against these Ontario courses. English, for any applicant whose first language is not English or who comes from a country where English is not an official language: Georgian's college-level band — IELTS Academic 6.0, TOEFL iBT 79, TOEFL paper 550, PTE Academic 58, Duolingo 110, CAEL 60, Cambridge C1 Advanced 170 or TOEIC public test 800 — with results older than two years refused.
Application Details
Start Date:Intakes Georgian lists on this program's own page (checked 6 September 2026): Fall 2026 at Barrie, Owen Sound; Winter 2027 at Barrie, Orangeville, Owen Sound; Fall 2027 at Barrie, Owen Sound, Schlegel – Innis Landing; Winter 2028 at Barrie, Orangeville, Owen Sound, Schlegel – Innis Landing. Campus names are the ones Georgian gives for each start; not every campus runs every intake. On Georgian's academic calendar for standard 14-week programs, the fall term opens with orientation on 8 September 2026 and classes on 9 September 2026; the winter term opens with orientation on 11 January 2027 and classes on 12 January 2027; the fall term opens with orientation on 7 September 2027 and classes on 8 September 2027. Individual programs vary from that pattern. Georgian has not yet published term dates for Winter 2028; its calendar currently runs only to Fall 2027.
Application Deadline:Georgian lists Practical Nursing as a highly competitive program for Fall 2026 entry, with a recommended average of 75% (Barrie Campus) in the required course(s) — a guideline that the college says changes by year and intake, and that meeting does not by itself win a seat. It publishes no deadline unique to this program; the dates below are the college-wide ones.
DOMESTIC APPLICANTS (Canadian citizens and permanent residents) apply through ontariocolleges.ca. 1 February is the equal consideration date: an application received on or before it is weighed alongside every other application received by then, while later ones are handled in the order they arrive for as long as seats last. Georgian's own worked example ties each 1 February to the fall, winter and summer that follow, so the date now in force is 1 February 2027 for entry in Fall 2027, Winter 2028 or Summer 2028. Letters of acceptance for most programs start going out on 1 November (1 November 2026 in the current cycle) and keep going until a program fills; an offer is confirmed back through ontariocolleges.ca by the deadline printed on it, normally 1 May (1 May 2027 this cycle), and only one offer may be held at a time. Late applicants can still receive an offer as far as the fifth day of the term. Because this program is highly competitive, Georgian Applications received by 1 February get equal consideration for highly competitive programs; after that date Georgian continues to consider applicants on a first-come, first-served basis until programs fill., and warns that every seat may already be taken by that date; once seats are gone a waitlist is opened and ranked on academic achievement.
INTERNATIONAL APPLICANTS have no fixed cut-off. They apply directly to Georgian through its own applicant portal, which is also where a program's availability to international students is shown, and applications are taken year-round subject to that availability — Georgian warns that a program open when you apply can be closed by the time your file is assessed, and urges applying early enough to leave time for a study permit. A CAD 100 application fee applies, and a seat is only held once the pre-admission invoice is accepted and the non-refundable CAD 2,500 deposit is paid.
