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How to Get Hired as a Canadian Nurse by a US Hospital
A US hospital would take you tomorrow if the paperwork were done. That is not a sales line — it is roughly where American nursing sits right now. Hospitals are short tens of thousands of registered nurses, and Canadian RNs are near the top of every recruiter’s list: same continent, same language, similar training, and the TN visa, which is faster and simpler than almost any other work route into the country.
So getting hired is rarely the hard part. Getting hired by the right employer — one that runs the sponsorship properly and does not burn six months of your time — is. This post is about how to land that job, and how to spot the offers worth taking.
Why US hospitals hire Canadian nurses
In its 2025 data, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median registered-nurse wage at about 97,550 US dollars a year and projects roughly 180,800 openings every year through 2035 — growth on top of all the nurses who retire or step away from the bedside. Hospitals compete hard for experienced staff, and hiring internationally is a normal way large systems close the gap, especially in high-need specialties.
Canadian nurses are a favourite source because the friction is low. Your English is not in question. Your training maps cleanly onto US practice. And because Canada has used the NCLEX-RN since 2015, many Canadian RNs have already passed the exact exam a US licence requires.
What “sponsorship” actually means
The word scares people. It should not.
“Sponsorship” just means the employer does its half of a routine process:
- On a TN: the hospital signs a support letter — the job, the duties, your pay, your start date — and sometimes files Form I-129 with USCIS before you travel. Its immigration lawyer handles the filing.
- On an EB-3 green card: the hospital files an immigrant petition and commits to employing you in the role. Nurses are “Schedule A,” so there is no long labour-market test — the employer’s part is lighter than for almost any other job.
The employer is not paying you to immigrate. It is hiring a nurse and doing the employer half of a well-worn process. Your licence, your exams, and your VisaScreen are still on you.
Direct hire vs travel or agency vs staffing
Not every US nursing job is the same shape.
- Direct hire. You are a permanent employee of the hospital — their payroll, their benefits, their career ladder. It is the only route that leads cleanly to green-card sponsorship, and it is the only one Nurse Swift does. One employer, one licence, one visa, and a team whose entire job is getting you hired and settled.
- Travel nursing. Short contracts (often 13 weeks) through a staffing agency, higher headline pay, less security — and you usually need a Compact licence and to already be work-authorised, which is exactly the hard part for a nurse still in Canada.
- Staffing or per-diem agencies. The agency is your employer and places you at different sites. Flexible, but the agency takes a cut and sponsorship is far less common.
For a first move from Canada, direct hire is the cleanest path by a wide margin, and it is the one we focus on.
What makes a Canadian RN attractive to a US employer
Recruiters look for three things. Here is how to have them.
Specialty and experience
Hospitals recruit hardest for ICU, ER, OR, L&D, NICU, telemetry, dialysis, and cath lab. Two or more years of recent hospital experience in one of those areas puts you near the front of the queue. Med-surg experience is still very hireable — it may just take a little longer to match.
Where you are in the exam and licence process
An employer would rather hire a nurse who can start in two months than one who might start in ten. If you have already passed the NCLEX-RN, opened a state licence application, and started your VisaScreen, say so early. It changes how seriously you are taken.
Flexibility on location and start date
The nurses who move fastest are open about where. Hold out for one city and expect to wait. Stay open to a few states where your recruiter has strong hospital relationships and offers come quicker — and you can always move to your first-choice city later, once you are licensed and working.
Want to know how you look on paper to a US hospital? Send us your specialty, years of experience, and exam status, and we will tell you honestly.
See how you look on paper →How the hiring process usually goes
From first email to first shift, here is the whole path.
- Screening. A recruiter reviews your experience, specialty, licence status, and citizenship (a TN needs a Canadian passport).
- Profile to employers. Your details go to hospitals hiring Canadian RNs in your specialty.
- Interviews. Usually by video, sometimes two rounds — one with a recruiter or nurse manager, one with the unit.
- Offer. Written, with pay, shift, unit, start window, and what the employer covers for immigration and relocation.
- Immigration paperwork. The employer’s lawyer prepares the TN support letter or the EB-3 petition. You finish licensing and VisaScreen in parallel.
- Visa step. TN at the border or through USCIS; EB-3 through petition and then a visa or adjustment of status.
- Relocation and onboarding. SSN, housing, orientation, and any certificate conversions (BLS, ACLS).
That is a lot of moving parts — and you do not handle them alone. Nurse Swift stays with you from the first screening call to your first shift: matching you to the right unit, prepping you for interviews, keeping the employer’s paperwork on track, and answering the “what happens next” question at every step.
Want someone in your corner for all of it? Tell us where you are today and we will take it from there.
Talk to us →What a good offer looks like — green flags and red flags
Green flags
- A real, named hospital or health system as the employer.
- The employer pays the immigration legal fees and government filing fees for the TN or EB-3.
- Pay in line with local rates for your specialty (check it against BLS and state data).
- A written offer you can read before you commit to anything.
- No fee charged to you for being placed.
Red flags
- You are asked to pay a large “placement,” “processing,” or “sponsorship” fee to the recruiter.
- A contract with a very large penalty (many tens of thousands of dollars) for leaving early. Some retention clauses are normal — read them carefully.
- Vague answers about which hospital you would actually work at.
- Pressure to sign right away, or to send documents before you have a written offer.
Nurse Swift does not charge nurses a placement fee. Third-party costs — licensing, exams, government filing fees — can still apply depending on your situation, and a good recruiter tells you which is which up front.
How Nurse Swift matches you
We are a recruitment and placement service, not a law firm. Our job is the matching: we work with US hospitals that actively hire Canadian RNs, learn what each unit needs, and put forward nurses who fit — on specialty, experience, licence status, and location. When there is a match, we line up the interview, make sure the role genuinely fits the visa rules, and coordinate with the employer so the paperwork is done right. The employer’s lawyers handle the government filings. Read more about us, or go straight to the current openings.
Ready to look? See the US hospital roles open to Canadian nurses right now, by specialty and state.
Browse current US hospital roles →Frequently asked questions
Do US hospitals really sponsor Canadian nurses, or is that rare?
It is common, especially at mid-size and large systems and in high-need specialties. The TN route makes Canadian RNs one of the easier groups to bring on.
Do I need a job offer before I do anything else?
You need an offer before the visa step, but you should start your NCLEX-RN, state licence, and VisaScreen in parallel. Nurses who wait for an offer to begin licensing add months to their timeline.
Can I get hired while still living in Canada?
Yes. Interviews are almost always remote. You move once the offer and paperwork are in place.
Will a hospital hire me if I have not passed the NCLEX yet?
Some will make a conditional offer, but your odds and your start date both improve a lot once the exam is done and a licence application is filed.
Is direct hire better than travel nursing for moving to the US?
For a first move from Canada, usually yes. Travel roles generally expect you to already be licensed (often Compact) and work-authorised, which is the part that takes the longest.