Several provinces pay nurses to work there — signing bonuses, relocation grants, and bursaries, some worth more than your entire licensing process cost.
Last checked: August 15, 2026. These programs change often — confirm current amounts and deadlines directly with each program.
Recruitment incentives by province
Several provinces pay nurses to work there. Some of these are worth more than your entire licensing process cost. Most are not advertised well, and a lot of nurses never find out they qualified until after the window closed.
Heads up
Most of these programs don't mention internationally educated nurses at all. That usually doesn't mean you're excluded — it means eligibility turns on two other things: whether you hold or qualify for that province's licence, and whether you have a valid work permit or permanent residence. Confirm both with the program contact before counting on any amount.
Up to $50,000Saskatchewan — Rural & Remote Recruitment IncentiveOpenSee details ↓
Up to $50,000Newfoundland & Labrador — Come Home IncentiveOpenSee details ↓
Up to $30,000Alberta — Bursary for IENs (BIEN)ClosedSee details ↓
Up to $30,000British Columbia — Provincial Incentive ProgramClosing soon · Sep 30, 2026See details ↓
Rural and Remote Recruitment Incentive (RRRI)
Saskatchewan
OpenIENs contemplated
Up to $50,000 over 3 years for RN, RPN, and NP; $40,000 for LPN; $30,000 for continuing care assistants. Three-year return of service. Must be a net-new employee in a permanent full-time position in one of 82 eligible communities, and apply within six months of starting. The application checklist asks for a copy of your work permit if applicable — which is why this one is marked as contemplating international applicants. Taxable.
Bursary for Internationally Educated Nurses (BIEN)
Alberta
ClosedIEN-specific
Up to $30,000 for IENs enrolled in an approved bridging program at Mount Royal, NorQuest, MacEwan, or Keyano. One year of rural service per $6,000 received. Applications are currently closed — email BIEN@rhpap.ca to be notified when they reopen.
$25,000 for a two-year commitment, plus a $10,000 Northern Top-Up Grant and a $10,000 Northern Relocation Grant if you move at least 100 km north. Employment window runs April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2029. You must not have worked as a nurse in Ontario in the previous six months and must hold CNO registration in good standing. Important: your employer applies for this, not you — raise it with the recruiter when you get an offer.
Closing soon · Sep 30, 2026Eligibility: not stated
Four separate incentives: up to $30,000 rural and remote recruitment in Northern Health communities (or $20,000 elsewhere rural), up to $15,000 GoHealth BC travel nurse incentive, up to $15,000 urban difficult-to-fill vacancy incentive, and a rural retention incentive of up to $2,000 per quarter to $8,000 per year across 74 communities. Currently scheduled to end September 30, 2026 unless extended.
Up to $23,000 covering clinical competence assessments, bridge training, living allowance, transportation, and childcare. Must be an immigrant who is a naturalized citizen, permanent resident, or protected person.
Relocation grant up to $5,000 with a 12-month return of service. New-graduate conditional grant of $4,000 for rural or northern placement, $8,000 for personal care homes. Refresher funding covering 80% up to $2,000.
$8,000 for an experienced RN or RPN, $18,000 for NP, plus an LPN incentive. Add $5,000 if the position is outside Charlottetown, and up to $8,000 federal student loan incentive for Charlottetown positions. Stackable to roughly $16,000 for RN, $26,000 for NP, $10,000 for LPN. Requires 1,950 hours return of service, or 3,900 hours with the rural incentive. You must not currently live in PEI or have worked as a nurse there in the past six months.
Come Home Incentive: RN $25,000 with a three-year return of service, up to $50,000 for expatriate Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. LPN $25,000 to $50,000. NP $30,000 to $60,000. Separate signing bonuses of $5,000 to $10,000 per year of commitment, doubled for a two-year commitment. Most are employer discretion.
Open · through Mar 31, 2027Eligibility: not stated
Signing bonus $7,500 for RN and NP, $4,500 for LPN. Retention bonus up to $15,000 per year for RN and NP, up to $8,000 for LPN. Up to $10,000 additional for primary care nurses in rural communities. Applies only to Government of Yukon nursing positions. Yukon also runs a Foreign Credential Recognition Navigation Service specifically for internationally educated professionals.
Northern Living Allowance of roughly $3,700 to $40,433 annually depending on community, paid automatically with no application. Yellowknife positions add $10,000 on hire plus $10,000 after 12 months. Relocation reimbursement, up to 21 days of meals while awaiting furniture, and lease-break reimbursement.
Recruitment bonuses of $5,000 on start, $5,000 at 18 months, $10,000 at 30 months. Frontline allowance of $9,000 annually. Monthly retention bonus $375 to $550. Community health centre allowance $9,000 to $19,500 based on staffing. Tier premiums of $10 or $15 per hour in specified communities. Northern allowance $16,008 to $43,588. Note: official Nunavut sources give differing bonus structures, so confirm against the specific job posting.
The 2023 bonus programs have expired. Nova Scotia Health advertises that successful candidates in select roles may be eligible for a signing bonus and relocation assistance, at employer discretion. NS runs a dedicated IEN support program called NICHE, though it is not a cash incentive.
The $10,000 and $5,000 retention payments required agreements signed by December 31, 2025 and March 31, 2026 respectively. Both deadlines have passed and no successor program was confirmed. Recruitment continues through the Vitalité and Horizon health authorities.
Up to $30,000 over five years for nurses and NPs working in communities of 30,000 or fewer.
Needs verification
This only forgives an outstanding Canada Student Loan, so it generally does not help someone who financed their nursing education outside Canada — unless they later took a Canada Student Loan for a Canadian bridging program.
These programs open, close, and change amounts more often than licensing fees do. Every figure here carries a last-checked date — confirm directly with the program before you make a decision based on it, especially British Columbia, currently scheduled to end September 30, 2026, and Alberta's BIEN, which is closed to new applications right now.