The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador encourages individuals with international or out-of-province credentials who are not working in their field to contact the Fair Registration Practices Office for licensure or registration assistance.

The Fair Registration Practices Office helps ensure skilled newcomers receive a transparent, timely, and fair assessment by the relevant regulatory body for their chosen profession. Assistance can include:

• Providing guidance on the provincial licensure process.
• Identifying funding opportunities that may be available.
• Developing pathways to employment.

To find out if an occupation is regulated in Newfoundland and Labrador, individuals are encouraged to use the Foreign Credential Recognition in Canada Tool. Regulatory bodies ensure applicants meet provincial licensure standards for safe and competent practice.

To contact the Fair Registration Practices Office for assistance please email FairRegistration@gov.nl.ca.

Supporting skilled newcomers to work in their chosen field and reach their economic potential is an ongoing priority for the Provincial Government. Since 2021, the Provincial Government has funded regulatory bodies and community-based organizations to improve credential recognition processes and outcomes for skilled newcomers.

Additionally, a significant number of actions have been taken in recent years to make it easier for health care professionals to obtain licensure in the province. To view these actions, please see the backgrounder.

-30-

BACKGROUNDER

Efforts to Make it Easier for Health Care Professionals to Relocate to the Province

• Creation of a health professional navigator position within the Department of Health and Community Services to assist health professionals working towards obtaining licensure in the province.
• Changes to the Registered Nurses Regulations in 2023 which streamlines the registration and licensing processes for registered nurses (RN), making it easier for nurses educated outside of the province, including internationally educated nurses (IENs), to work in the province.
• Creation of a designated countries pathway for internationally educated nurses who were educated and are currently licensed in good standing in approved countries to apply for expedited registration with the College of Registered Nurses Newfoundland and Labrador.
• Implementation of the supervised practice experience practice program for RNs and licensed practical nurses (LPNs).
• Amendments to the Medical Act, 2011 which introduced two new license types (associate and clinical assistant) and created a pathway for physicians trained in approved countries by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Newfoundland and Labrador (CPSNL) to gain licensure without writing the national exams.
• Implementation of a new fast-track application process by CPSNL for those who hold a full and unrestricted license to practice medicine in another Canadian province or territory.
• Implementation of a Ukrainian physician licensure support program to assist displaced Ukrainian physicians in obtaining licensure to practice medicine in Newfoundland and Labrador.
• Implementation of an incentive to assist with cost of completing the Nursing Community Assessment Service (NCAS) for internationally educated nurses who wish to become LPN or RN.
• Implementation of a bridging program through the Centre for Nursing Studies and Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services for enrolled assistant nurses in Jamaica to complete bridging to become LPNs in the province.