Internationally educated nurses who are pursuing BCCNM registration may be eligible for fee waivers to eliminate some upfront costs. The following financial supports are available:

Registration Requirement Available Bursary/Fee Waivers 
Credential Assessment Up to $1,200 CAD for fees related to a BCCNM accepted credential assessment application. 
English Language Proficiency Test (ELPT) Up to $400 CAD for  English Language Proficiency Tests (ELPT). Maximum of two attempts.   
BCCNM Application Fee waived with signed Return of Service (ROS). 
Inspire Global Assessments  Up to $3,150 CAD for fees related to assessments. Fee waived with signed Return of Service (ROS). 
Inspire Global Assessments  Travel Stipend Up to $1,000 CAD reimbursement to offset some of the costs associated with travel and accommodation. Available to residents of British Columbia only; distance conditions apply. 
Transitional Education Up to $10,000 CAD for tuition fees for mandatory education upgrading for Internationally Education Nurses, as directed by BCCNM.  Nurses advised by BCCNM to retake a Bachelor of Science in Nursing program in its entirety are not eligible for the Transitional Education Bursary. 

Return to Practice Nursing (RTPN) Bursary 

Competency assessments and remote travel assistance (from within B.C.) to the in-person testing facility and educational upgrading. These may be available to former, non-practicing or practicing registrants with insufficient recent practice experience from Canadian provinces and territories and meet the return-to-practice nursing (RTPN) eligibility criteria:

Registration Requirement Available Bursary/Fee Waivers 
Inspire Global Assessments/Inspire Évaluations Mondiales  competency assessmentUp to $3,150 CAD (including GST) 
Remote Travel/Accommodation assistanceUp to $1,000 CAD reimbursement to offset some of the costs associated with travel and accommodation. Only available to residents of British Columbia; distance conditions will apply.
Educational UpgradingUp to $10,000 CAD for tuition fees only. Education covered must be those that the applicant is directed to take by BCCNM and/or approved by BCCNM in order to obtain registration with practice status. 

Additional Bursary available only to former BCCNM registrants:

Registration Requirement Available Bursary/Fee Waivers 
BCCNM Re-instatement to practicing RN/RPN/LPN application fee$265 CAD + GST

Return to Practice Nursing (RTPN) Bursary Application and Coverage

B.C. applicants seeking to reinstate a practicing license (including applicants seeking to convert their non-practicing license for a practicing license) who receive an assessment letter or registration decision from the BCCNM advising additional training/assessment is required: 

  • Who opt to retake a nursing program or complete a Supervised Practice Experience (SPE); or 
  • Who opt to take an Inspire Global Assessments/Inspire Évaluations Mondiales competency assessment. 

A qualified return-to-practice nurse (RTPN) who has been advised by the BCCNM through an assessment letter or registration decision that additional training/assessment is required to be licensed in B.C. as a Registered Nurse (RN), Registered Psychiatric Nurse (RPN) and/or Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) as noted in 1 above. This includes: 

  • Nurses who have a current BCCNM non-practicing nursing license (i.e., RN, RPN or LPN) and wish to convert their license to ‘practicing’ status. 
  • RNs, LPNs, and RPNs who have been away from nursing for more than five years.
  • RNs, LPNs, and RPNs who have been away from nursing for more than five years. 
  • Former BC licensed nurses who retired from practice and are seeking re-employment with ‘practicing’ status. 
  • Former BC licensed nurses who were on a leave of absence and therefore unable to meet the practice hour requirement (e.g., illness, parental leave etc.).
  • Applicants who held a practicing registration in Canada and consolidated their practice (worked) in Canada.
  • Recent BC licensed nurses who were unable to obtain sufficient practice hours despite best efforts, including: 
    • RNs and LPNs who had a recent practicing license but who have failed to meet the BCCNM 1,125 practice hours requirement within the last five years at the time of license renewal.
    • RPNs who had a recent practicing license but who have failed to meet the BCCNM 1,400 practice hours requirement within the last five years at the time of license renewal. 

RTPNs who meet the requirements in 1 and 2 above, are somewhere along the application/assessment process, incurred costs to re-instate/obtain practicing status on, or after, July 15, 2021, and were not issued a provisional or full practicing license on or prior to July 15, 2022, are also eligible for the same supports.  

Additional RTPN Bursary Information

Inspire Global Assessments/Inspire Évaluations Mondiales (formerly Nursing Community Assessment Service (NCAS)) is a competency assessment service for internationally educated nurses registration in British Columbia (B.C.). The two-part competency assessment (computer-based and simulation-based) evaluates the applicant’s nursing skills, knowledge and practice against competencies required for entry-level practice in B.C. for each specific nursing role (RN, RPN or LPN). Inspire Global Assessments/Inspire Évaluations Mondiales is also sometimes used by the BCCNM as an option to assess whether former practicing nursing registrants (or nursing registrants with insufficient practice experience) have maintained their entry-level competencies to practice safely. 

Health Match BC will be administering the bursaries on behalf of the Province of B.C. In addition to the general eligibility criteria, a Canadian-trained nurse must meet following requirements to obtain reimbursement for costs: 

  1. Applied and paid BCCNM registration fees; 
  2. Signed a Return of Service agreement with the BC Ministry of Health (administered by Health Match BC); and 
  3. Have a valid Social Insurance Number (SIN) as of the date bursary funds are to be issued. 

The return of service (ROS) agreement is an agreement in exchange for accepting bursary funding between you and the Province of British Columbia that you will commit to complete 12 months of continuous service with a publicly funded health sector employer in B.C. within six months following receipt of your nursing license/reinstatement/conversion to practising status from the BCCNM. The ROS period is extended to two years if you obtain employment of 0.5 full-time equivalent (FTE) or less and the length of time will also be extended during absences. The ROS commitment pauses during non-working periods. 

Public sector employers include regional health boards designated under section 4(1) of the Health Authorities Act, or Provincial Health Services Authority (collectively a “Health Authority”), or First Nations Health Authority, or Providence Health Care OR at long-term care or assisted living (AL) facility, private or public, as long as the facility is publicly funded. Contract agencies supplying temporary and/or short-term staffing solutions are not eligible employers for the ROS.   

To be eligible for the Return-to-Practice Nurse (RTPN) Health Bursary, through Health Match BC, applicants must:

  1. Apply for the RTPN Bursary by completing the required online application form. 
  2. Provide Health Match BC a copy of the BCCNM assessment letter or registration decision. Note: Reimbursement for the BCCNM Reinstatement Fee requires receipts showing the fee has been paid. 
  3. Submit receipt of payment for any/all bursaries (i.e., re-instatement fee, Inspire Global Assessments/Inspire Évaluations Mondiales  
    • The Inspire Global Assessments/Inspire Évaluations Mondiales fee will be reimbursed with proof that the fee has been paid and a competency report issued. 
    • The costs for remedial education will be paid once the course(s)/semesters has/have been paid to the educational institution. If the education is semester-based, and the overall program costs exceed the bursary maximum of $10,000 CAD reimbursement payments may be proportionally spread across the program semesters.  
  4. Sign a 12-month return of service (ROS). This ROS agreement is with the BC Ministry of Health, committing to work within B.C.’s public health system for a minimum of a 12-month period once licensed as an RN/RPN/LPN.