NNAS · National Nursing Assessment Service · Canada
The NNAS portal is confusing, slow, and rejects applications for avoidable errors. This guide tells you exactly what to submit, in what order, from your country.
NNAS basics
NNAS is the first document gate for many internationally educated nurses who want to become licensed in Canada. It does not make you a Canadian nurse, and it does not decide whether you can practise. Its job is narrower: it collects identity, education, registration, and work-history evidence, verifies that the documents are authentic, and prepares an Advisory Report for the nursing regulator in the province where you want to apply.
That Advisory Report gives the provincial college a structured summary of your file. It usually includes your nursing education, licences, employment history, and a comparability assessment against Canadian expectations. The provincial college then uses the report, plus its own forms and requirements, to decide your next step. You may be told your education is comparable, somewhat comparable, or not substantially equivalent; you may also need language proof, a jurisprudence exam, bridging education, supervised practice, or NCLEX eligibility. In plain English: NNAS is not the finish line. It is the organized package that lets the real regulator start reviewing your file.
Most nurses think the application begins when they pay. In practice, the application begins when your school, licensing council, and employers know exactly what they must send, where they must send it, and which name or file number must appear on the document. The portal is only the place where those decisions become visible.
HowTo schema
Decide whether you are targeting RN, LPN/RPN, or another nursing category and confirm the provincial regulator that will receive your report.
Use regular service if you are early in document collection. Use expedited service only when your identity, licence, education, and third-party documents can be sent quickly.
Create your NNAS portal account, enter names exactly as they appear on legal and nursing records, select the regulatory body, and pay the order fee.
Upload acceptable identity documents and request direct submissions from schools, licensing councils, assessment providers, and employers where required.
Use the portal status, school receipts, council receipts, courier tracking, and employer confirmations to catch missing items before final review.
Once the Advisory Report is issued, download your copy, confirm its validity period, then complete the provincial nursing college application.
Filing sequence
The smartest NNAS file is built backward from the reviewer's questions: Who are you? Where did you train? Who licensed you first and now? What nursing work have you done? Which regulator should receive the report? If those answers are clear before payment, the portal becomes much less chaotic.
Before you request a single transcript, write down every version of your name used on passports, licences, school records, employment letters, and exam results. Then choose the first province you are targeting. Most rework starts with a name mismatch or a province choice that changes the language test, assessment route, or forms.
The documents you control are rarely the bottleneck. Schools, licensing councils, credential assessment bodies, and former employers create the delays. Ask each organization how it sends records, what identifier it needs, whether it uses a secure portal, and how long it takes after payment. Keep receipts and contact names.
Once third-party requests are moving, prepare the items you upload yourself: identity documents, name-change evidence, translations, employment details, and any portal declarations. Scan in colour, include every page, avoid phone shadows, and use the same file names in your own tracking sheet.
A portal can show that a document arrived while the reviewer still has not accepted it. Accepted means it met format, source, translation, seal, and completeness requirements. Your tracking should separate requested, sent, received, accepted, rejected, and replaced. That is how you catch problems before final review.
Regular vs expedited
Expedited NNAS is not a shortcut around weak evidence. It is a faster review lane when the right evidence is already ready. The question is not only whether you can afford the extra fee; it is whether every third party in your file can send acceptable documents quickly.
| Feature | Regular | Expedited |
|---|---|---|
| Fee | $650 USD | $750 USD |
| Timeline | 12-16 weeks | 5 business days (once docs received) |
| Who it is for | Budget-conscious, early in journey | Time-sensitive, docs ready |
| Participating provinces | All | CNO, CRNA, CRNS (as of 2026) |
| PrepBoard recommendation | Use it if documents are still scattered | Expedited if you have all documents ready |
Regular NNAS is still the safer route when your school, council, or employer is slow. Paying more does not fix missing documents.
Expedited service is powerful only after your third parties can move quickly. Official NNAS materials have listed regular fees in USD and expedited fees in Canadian dollars in different handbooks, so always confirm the currency shown in the live portal before payment.
Interactive checklist
Choose your training country and target province. The tool combines core NNAS documents, country additions, and province-specific follow-up items. Tick items as you gather them; your progress saves on this device, and you can email yourself the PDF version.
0 of 12 checklist items complete
Saved on this device as you tick items off.
These appear in nearly every NNAS file and should be started before you pay.
NNAS application form
Common mistakeComplete it inside the NNAS applicant portal after you choose your nursing category and province.
Name order, previous names, and licence dates must match supporting records.
Passport or accepted identity documents
Common mistakeUpload clear notarized copies or the identity documents requested by the portal.
Blurry scans, cropped pages, and expired documents are frequent rejection triggers.
Nursing diploma or degree certificate
Request this from your school registrar or keep a certified copy ready if the portal allows upload.
Official nursing transcripts
Common mistakeYour school normally sends these directly to NNAS or the assessment provider, not through you.
Student copies and opened envelopes are usually not treated as official.
Employment letters for each nursing role
Common mistakeAsk every employer for role title, dates, hours, unit, responsibilities, and letterhead.
A generic HR certificate without duties or hours can leave practice evidence incomplete.
Original licence verification
Common mistakeThe first licensing authority that registered you as a nurse sends verification directly.
NNAS expects the authority to send verification; applicant-forwarded copies are risky.
These are common country-specific records or verification steps.
PRC licence verification
Common mistakeRequest verification from the Professional Regulation Commission through the PRC process.
Use the same name sequence PRC has on file, especially after marriage or passport renewal.
CHED certificate or school recognition evidence
Ask your school registrar whether CHED documentation is required for your transcript package.
School secure portal code
Common mistakeConfirm whether your school submits through a secure portal, sealed courier, or registrar email.
Submitting before the school has its portal code often creates weeks of avoidable delay.
PRC Board Rating
Order this from PRC if your target regulator or reviewer asks for exam performance evidence.
These are extra items PrepBoard watches for after you pick a target regulator.
CNO sworn declaration
Common mistakeComplete the declaration requested by CNO when your provincial application opens.
Declarations signed too early or with mismatched names can be rejected.
Evidence of practice form
Prepare practice-hour evidence and employer details before CNO asks for them.
Province by province
Province choice changes the entire shape of your NNAS application. Ontario may care about different evidence than Alberta; British Columbia can route some applicants through additional assessment; Quebec often follows a distinct French-language regulatory pathway. Even when the base NNAS fee looks identical, the real cost changes after college fees, language testing, translations, courier charges, notarization, and possible bridging.
The table below keeps the NNAS fee visible while showing the provincial layer that usually surprises applicants. Treat the college fee and timeline as planning estimates, not a quote. Before you pay, open the regulator page, confirm the exact nursing category, and check whether IELTS Academic, CELBAN, French proof, or another language route applies to your file.
The hidden cost is retesting, retranslation, re-sending transcripts, and paying for a province before you know whether it accepts your report path. Plan the sequence before you plan the budget.
| Province | Regulator | NNAS fee | College fee | Avg timeline | IELTS requirement |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ONOntario | CNO | $650 USD | $485 | 10-14 mo | IELTS Academic or CELBAN if required |
| BCBritish Columbia | BCCNM | $650 USD | $525 | 9-13 mo | IELTS Academic or CELBAN if required |
| ABAlberta | CRNA | $650 USD | $465 | 8-12 mo | CELBAN or IELTS Academic |
| SKSaskatchewan | CRNS | $650 USD | $405 | 9-12 mo | IELTS Academic or CELBAN if required |
| MBManitoba | CRNM | $650 USD | $390 | 10-14 mo | IELTS Academic or CELBAN if required |
| QCQuebec | OIIQ | Not usually NNAS | $700 | 14-20 mo | French pathway; IELTS is not the primary route |
| NSNova Scotia | NSCN | $650 USD | $425 | 9-13 mo | IELTS Academic or CELBAN if required |
| NBNew Brunswick | NANB | $650 USD | $455 | 10-14 mo | IELTS Academic or CELBAN if required |
| PEPrince Edward Island | CRNMPEI | $650 USD | $380 | 9-13 mo | IELTS Academic or CELBAN if required |
| NLNewfoundland and Labrador | CRNNL | $650 USD | $410 | 10-14 mo | IELTS Academic or CELBAN if required |
Country-specific long tails
NNAS uses one portal, but every country has different document behaviour. The fastest applicants do not only ask, "What does NNAS require?" They ask, "Which office in my country can produce the acceptable version, and how does that office send it directly?"
Philippines
Philippines-trained nurses should plan around PRC verification, school registrar speed, and whether the school can use a secure portal. PRC Board Rating is not always the first item nurses think about, but it is often easier to request while you are still close to your PRC records. The biggest risk is starting NNAS before the school knows exactly how to transmit transcripts and related documents.
India
India-trained nurses often need to coordinate between a university, college, state nursing council, and sometimes INC records. Do not assume the final degree certificate is enough. Mark sheets for all years, registration certificates, and council verification can move at different speeds, so your checklist should name every office that must send something directly.
Nigeria
Nigeria-trained nurses should prepare NMCN verification, school transcripts, and secondary education records if a provincial pathway asks for them later. The main delay pattern is not document absence; it is documents being sent without a clear identifier, official seal, grading scale, or direct-to-recipient chain.
UAE
UAE applicants often trained in one country, worked in the Gulf, and hold a DHA, DOH, or MOH licence. Treat education, first licence, current licence, and employment as separate evidence streams. A salary certificate is rarely enough; the regulator wants a nursing practice letter that shows role, unit, dates, hours, and duties.
Avoidable delays
These mistakes are expensive because they happen after you have already paid, waited, and told your family the file is moving. None of them require a bad application. They only require one missing instruction, one wrong test, or one premature provincial fee.
Many applicants pay NNAS first, then discover that their school does not know where to send the transcript or needs a secure portal setup before it can transmit records. The portal may show your file as open, but the real clock does not start until the right document arrives in the right channel.
Language rules are provincial. One nurse can need IELTS Academic for one pathway, CELBAN for another, and IELTS General Training for immigration. Booking the wrong test can cost hundreds of dollars and push your file back by six or more weeks.
Some regulators allow useful parallel work. Others will not meaningfully review your application until NNAS or an approved assessment provider sends the required report. Applying too early can create duplicate uploads, stale forms, and non-refundable fees.
FAQ
These are the questions PrepBoard advisors hear when an IEN is about to pay, has one document stuck, or received a report result they do not know how to interpret.
Regular NNAS files commonly take 12-16 weeks after documents are received and accepted, but the total calendar time can be longer if your school, licensing council, or employer is slow. Expedited service aims for 5 business days after the last required document is received, but only for participating routes and complete files.
Yes. In fact, many IENs should begin NCLEX foundations while NNAS documents are moving, because document collection and exam preparation can run in parallel. Do not wait for the Advisory Report to start clinical judgment practice unless your province has told you not to prepare yet.
That result is not the end of the pathway. The provincial regulator may ask for additional assessment, bridging education, supervised practice, a transition course, or more evidence. Your next step depends on the province and the gap the regulator identifies.
NNAS terms generally treat paid orders as non-refundable once issued. Because third-party fees can also be non-refundable, confirm your province, nursing category, name records, and document availability before paying.
An Advisory Report is the NNAS summary sent to a provincial nursing regulator. It organizes verified identity, education, registration, and practice information so the regulator can decide whether you meet its registration requirements or need extra steps.
Most Philippines-trained nurses should prepare PRC licence verification, official school transcripts, diploma or degree evidence, employment letters, and often PRC Board Rating or CHED-related evidence. The exact list depends on the province and what the portal requests.
India-trained nurses should expect official transcripts, university mark sheets for every year, degree or diploma evidence, state nursing council verification, and any INC-related evidence that applies to their education or registration history.
Nigeria-trained nurses usually need NMCN registration verification, official school or university transcripts, diploma or degree evidence, employment letters, and sometimes WAEC or NECO results if a provincial step asks for secondary education evidence.
You may need documents from both places. Your nursing education comes from the country where you trained, your first licence may come from that same country, and your current licence or employment evidence may come from DHA, DOH, MOH, or a UAE employer.
Often yes, but the fee and timing depend on the type of NNAS order and whether the report is still active. You should choose the first province carefully, then add or port reports only after confirming that the second regulator will accept the same evidence.
Official checks
A strong guide can save weeks, but the official portal controls the actual order. Use PrepBoard to plan the file, then check the live regulator and NNAS instructions before submitting payment or sending irreplaceable originals.
Free roadmap
PrepBoard will tell you exactly what to submit, in what order, for your province.