Becoming a licensed nurse will soon cost $210 more. An N.L. student says it will keep people away

Becoming a licensed nurse will soon cost $210 more. An N.L. student says it will keep people away

Exam cost is going from $360 to $570 — a 58% increase

Nurses looking to get licensed in Canada will soon see a $210 increase in their national examination fee, and a nursing student hoping to work in Newfoundland and Labrador says he believes it will keep new nurses away from the profession.

Nathan Ehigie, a fourth-year nursing student at Newfoundland and Labrador's Centre for Nursing Studies, said he was shocked to learn of the increase.

"It was surprising, especially considering we're trying to retain more nurses," Ehigie told CBC News Monday.

"It's almost like a surprise at every turn as I continue to move on in [my] career."

Nurses hoping to get licensed in Canada must undertake the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX). Effective February 2027, the cost of examination for nurses seeking a license to practice in Canada will increase from $360 to $570 — a 58 per cent increase.

The increase is the first time the price of an examination has risen since 2000. In a statement on its website, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing said the change reflects "25 years of inflation and rising costs associated with exams, data protection and cybersecurity."

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CBC News contacted the board for an interview, but was referred to the website's frequently asked questions page.

For nurses like Ehigie, that's a big financial pill to swallow. Nurses already pay years of tuition, he said, and often work hundreds of unpaid hours in clinical placements during their schooling.

58% price increase for nurse licensing exam too steep for students: Union

"It's only giving people more reason to not be in the health-care profession, right?" he asked.

"New grads, we're just about to start practice. And it's almost like more limitations for us to overcome to get into the practice."

Yvette Coffey, head of Newfoundland and Labrador's registered nurses' union, believes that limitation will be too much for some to overcome.

"This is going to have an impact on recruiting people into the nursing profession. Recruiting people in the bachelor of science and nursing program. It's just another impediment," said Coffey.

"We need to be doing everything we can to make it easier for them to enter into the profession. To be able to take those permanent, full-time positions."

Coffey said the increase will also impact internationally trained nurses hoping to be certified in Canada — which the Newfoundland and Labrador government has targeted as a way to fill more than 200 vacancies in the nursing system.

Coffey said she hopes for more transparency and discussion around the increase, saying 58 per cent is too steep of a one-time increase.

Ehigie said he'd like to see either the provincial government or Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services step in to see how students can be supported — like, for example, a potential reimbursement of the examination fee for new grads in the province.

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