Nursing pathway checker: Canada, USA and Australia

Yes. A GNM diploma usually leads to practical nursing (RPN or LPN). The College of Nurses of Ontario gives REx-PN eligibility for any graduation year, and Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador take recent graduates or nurses with recent hours for the CPNRE. Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia also register diploma nurses as RNs when they meet the recent-practice rules.

Yes. The NCLEX is offered at Pearson VUE test centres in India, but you first need eligibility from a regulator such as New York State or the College of Nurses of Ontario. Neither asks for nursing work experience before you write.

Not always. New York and Ontario give eligibility without practice hours. Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia ask for a recent graduation or recent nursing hours before you write, and each counts the years differently.

Yes. NCSBN runs one NCLEX-RN for all three. A pass does not expire for Canada or the USA; Australia counts it if it falls within 10 years of opening your Ahpra portfolio, and then asks for a clinical exam (OSCE).

No. The Nursing Council of New Zealand verifies your documents through TruMerit and decides each file. It may ask for its own theory exam and a clinical exam (OSCE) in Christchurch. Nurses registered in Australia apply under trans-Tasman mutual recognition instead.

The checker applies each regulator’s published rules, checked on their own pages in November 2026. Only the regulator decides your eligibility, and rules change, so confirm on its page or on a call before you pay any fee.