College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba Announces Completion of Numerous Measures to Streamline Registration for Internationally Educated Nurses

WINNIPEG – Throughout 2025, the College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba (the College) prioritized improving and modernizing its regulatory processes for Internationally Educated Nurses (IEN) while maintaining the quality and safety of applicants approved for registration in Manitoba. These changes reflect the College’s commitment to making the application process more efficient and supporting timely entry to practice in Manitoba’s health care system.

“The College is proud to announce the completion of more initiatives related to our support of qualified internationally educated nurses entering Manitoba’s health workforce,” said Deb Elias RN, CEO and Registrar of the College. “It was important to the College to centre the experiences of IEN applicants and registrants throughout this process. In August and September, we engaged over 2,800 individuals who utilized the IEN applicant pathway through a survey and received valuable feedback from over 500 applicants and registrants that helped inform and support these amendments. As we continue to modernize our processes, there’s still more work to do and we look forward to working collaboratively with our sector partners.”

IEN Perspectives Survey Highlights:

• A 23% increase in positive perceptions of the College’s fair and objective treatment of IEN applicants, and a 26% positive shift in perceived relationship quality between the College and IEN applicants compared to 2022 data.
• The substantial majority (73%) of IEN applicants who had completed a Clinical Competence Assessment (CCA) and subsequently established RN registration in Manitoba reported a positive experience.
• IEN applicants identified a need for additional supports throughout the registration application process, such as improved study/prep materials, skills labs, and clearer communication from the College regarding the CCA and related expectations.
• 88% of IEN applicants who completed bridging/re-entry education agreed that the courses were beneficial as part of their entry to nursing practice in Manitoba and Canada.
• Internationally educated applicants who utilized the labour mobility pathway to registration in Manitoba expressed difficulty in navigating the labour mobility applicant pathway (53%). They also expressed that the perception that other Canadian jurisdictions appeared to have fewer steps or requirements influenced their application decisions (82%).
• Direct IEN applicants (those who utilized the College’s IEN applicant pathway) were more likely than IEN labour mobility applicants to have found it somewhat to very easy to find employment (79% vs 42%, respectively) and were also more likely to be highly satisfied with their nursing practice experiences in Manitoba (57% vs. 41%, respectively).
• 59% of IEN applicants indicated financial costs remain a moderate to extreme barrier to achieving RN registration in Manitoba, down from 78% in 2022.
• IEN applicants also identified a number of other financial and logistical challenges during the application process, including accessing transportation and childcare to attend courses and obtaining documents from international regulatory and educational institutions, amongst others.

As of December, and since the previous announcement in August, the following initiatives have been completed:

• Broader acceptance of educational credential assessments: In addition to the National Nursing Assessment Service (NNAS), the College now accepts other credential assessments aligned with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) requirements. These other assessments are more affordable, reduce duplication, and improve accessibility for IEN applicants.
• Conditional registration while obtaining Verification of Registrations (VORs): The College has a new policy that permits consideration of conditional registration related to applicant Verification of Registration (VOR) from between five and seven years ago. This allows applicants to be approved for registration and begin working more quickly while the College awaits some of their outstanding registration documents.
• Expanded use of conditional registration: IEN applicants who require remedial education can now begin practicing with a conditional licence while completing up to two Nurse Re-Entry (NREP) courses following a Clinical Competence Assessment (CCA).
• Expedited registration pathway for US-educated Nurse Practitioners: On November 18, the College formalized an expedited pathway for US-educated Nurse Practitioners.

These changes build upon those previously announced on June 11 and August 13, in which the College announced initiatives such as the Registration Pathway Coordinator and expanded eligibility for expedited registration.

The College has several other updates in progress based on feedback from IEN applicants and work with our regulatory partners. These include making a regulatory update to provide more flexibility for verifying prior registration and modernizing the Clinical Competence Assessment in collaboration with other Manitoba LPN and RPN regulators. The College continues to work with the Manitoba government on its regulatory updates.

The College explored creating an application review committee to review complex applications. After careful consideration, the College is not proceeding with a separate review committee at this time to ensure the application process remains expedient. Our current process, with changes announced today, will keep the process fair, consistent and transparent for all applicants. We will continue to review complex applications and identify solutions that align with the unique needs and circumstances of individual applicants.

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For more information, please contact:

Media and the public:
Martin Lussier
Manager of Communications
204-789-0662
mlussier@crnm.mb.ca

Applicants:
Registration Services
registration@crnm.mb.ca
204-774-3477 ext. 300

Background

Policy Changes

• Policy AA-7 – Prior Learning Assessment (RN Registration)
• Policy AA-8 – Prior Learning Assessment (Nurse Practitioner Registration)
• Policy AA-9 – Documents from Third Parties
• Policy AA-32 – Verification of Registration RN and RN(NP)
• Policy AA-33 – Expedited Registration for US Educated Nurse Practitioners

Previous Announcements

• College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba Reaffirms Commitment to Supporting Internationally Educated Nurses with New Streamlining Initiatives
• Meeting the Moment: College of Registered Nurses Implements Major Updates Supporting Internationally Educated Nurses and All Applicants in Manitoba