Located within the beautiful and historic University of Saskatchewan campus, the College of Nursing offers a variety of both undergraduate and graduate nursing programs in Saskatoon. The state-of-the-art Health Science building provides an outstanding environment for interprofessional collaboration. Faculty, staff and students are directly connected to Royal University Hospital and have access to many on-campus amenities, such as the Physical Activity Complex, residence and the Health Science library.

Nestled in the heart of downtown Prince Albert, the College of Nursing offers a variety of programs from the University of Saskatchewan Prince Albert Campus, which serves as a hub for local and remote programming in northern Saskatchewan. Nursing students at the Prince Albert Campus enjoy smaller class sizes and more time with faculty.

The College of Nursing uses a distributed learning approach to deliver our undergraduate program in Île-à-la-Crosse, La Ronge, Lloydminster, Yorkton, North Battleford, Muenster, and Swift Current and Weyburn (both coming September 2025), allowing you to learn where you live. The college believes the pursuit of post-secondary education should not be disadvantaged by geography and as such, we use innovative technology to deliver our program in these locations.

To become a Registered Nurse (RN), the following are required:

• a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree (the outcome of our program)
• clinical practice (included in our program)
• successful completion of the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN)
• registration with a provincial regulatory body (College of Registered Nurses of Saskatchewan (CRNS)) in Saskatchewan

Wages

Learn more about hourly wages for RNs in Saskatchewan.

Nurses practice within a diverse range of positions and settings anywhere within Canada and around the globe and can choose from a variety of rewarding careers, including:

• Government - development of health-care policy
• International health agencies - clinical and non-clinical opportunities with agencies, such as UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO)
• Military service - nursing officers
• Clinical practice
  • Hospitals – medical, surgical, pediatrics, obstetrics, etc.
  • Community – public health, schools, addictions, shelter agencies, etc.
  • Long-term care – secure environments, care homes, rehabilitation residences, etc.
  • Nurse educator
  • Administration
  • Non-profit sector
  • Forensics
  • Air ambulance
  • Occupational health
  • Northern nursing
  • Rural and remote communities
  • International settings (Graduates interested in seeking employment in another province or country should expect a turn-around time of 4-6 weeks to complete the necessary documentation required to verify their education.)

More careers are available with experience and advanced education:

• Administrator (Management)
• Counselor/Therapist
• Educator
• Researcher
• Nurse Practitioner
• Private practice

Professional associations available to RNs:

• College of Registered Nurses of Saskatchewan (CRNS)
• Canadian Nurses Association (CNA)
• International Council of Nurses (ICN)
• Numerous nursing specialty associations
  • Canadian Indigenous Nurses Association, Emergency Nurses Association, International Association of Forensic Nurses, etc.

USask College of Arts and Science Learning Communities bring Saskatoon students together in popular first-year courses and weekly gatherings with upper-year peer mentors, while providing academic and social programming building confidence, knowledge, and skills.

• Indigenous Student Achievement Pathways (ISAP) welcomes First Nations, Inuit, and Métis students and for those interested specifically in nursing, the ISAP Medicine Wheel's pre-nursing option can help students complete the nursing pre-professional year requirements. Sign-up for ISAP LCs for the upcoming fall term typically opens in April.
• First Year Learning Experience (FLEX) is open to all Arts and Science first-year students, and offers nursing learning communities focused on the pre-professional requirements. Sign-up for FLEX LCs for the upcoming fall term typically opens in May.

To enroll in courses required in the pre-professional year, students must have successfully completed high school with credit in the following courses:

• English A30 and B30
• Biology 30
• Chemistry 30 (recommended) and
• Foundations of Math 30; or Pre-Calculus 30 or Math B30 or Math C30 (recommended)

The pre-professional year courses can be obtained at a variety of institutions and locations throughout Saskatchewan. 

University of Saskatchewan

The pre-professional year courses at the University of Saskatchewan are completed through the College of Arts and Science. They can be completed at both the Saskatoon and Prince Albert Campus.

Other Saskatchewan locations

Besides the University of Saskatchewan, the pre-professional year can also be completed through a variety of institutions, including select regional colleges throughout the province:

• University of Regina
• North West Regional College - Battlefords Campus
• Great Plains Regional College
• Suncrest College (formerly Cumberland College)
• Suncrest College (formerly Parkland College)
• Lakeland College
• Southeast Regional College
• St. Peter's College
• Athabasca University
• Northlands College
• Briercrest College
• First Nations University of Canada

Contact these institutions directly if you are interested in applying.

Other institutions

Students may also complete their pre-professional year course requirements in another province or country, as long as the courses transfer to the University of Saskatchewan to meet course requirements.

• View transferable courses recognized at USask

View a sample schedule of how courses are organized within years two through four in the College of Nursing. Once you have accepted your offer from the Admissions Department and they have changed your college to Nursing, you will then be able to register in Nursing classes. Please note these tips for class registration success:

• clear your browsing history cache (search how to do this for your particular browser)
• restart your device
• narrow your search by selecting your particular campus
• when selecting a class see if there is a "required link" for a lab or seminar and if so, choose one
• select all the classes and labs/seminars for the semester prior to clicking submit for registration. All the classes in a semester are co-requisites of each other and need to be submitted at the same time
• all clinical rotation classes have a "lab" component so you should have two CRNs for NURS 206, 221, 308, 331, 333, 431 & 450
• if you can't find a class for your campus, don't put a campus in; the class may be an online province-wide class and not be tied to a particular campus
• you may see other class offerings that you cannot register for: those are for our other program, the Post Degree in Nursing program. These class offerings are not open to BSN program students

Part-time study

Part-time study in the BSN program is an option; however, all courses must be completed within six years of entering the College of Nursing.

Students may complete Years 2, 3 and 4 at campuses in Prince Albert and Saskatoon or through distributed learning (video and web conferencing, lecture capture) at sites in Île-à-la-Crosse, La Ronge, Lloydminster, Yorkton, Muenster and North Battleford, and Swift Current and Weyburn (both coming September 2025).

A total of 150 early admission seats are available across Saskatchewan*.

The same admission requirements and selection criteria apply for early admission as for regular admission.

Applicants must have completed at least five of the ten required pre-professional classes to be considered for early admission. Any five of the ten required classes can be considered. If more than five pre-professional classes are complete by December, then the five classes with the highest grades will be used to calculate the academic average for early admission.

Students must complete the final five pre-professional classes to ensure all requirements are met. An early admission offer will be revoked if a sufficient average is not maintained for the remaining courses (minimum 60% across 10 courses per approved admission guidelines) and/or if pre-professional classes are not completed. A deficiency may be allowed per the regular admission process.

If an applicant has not met the requirements to be considered for early admission by the early admission deadlines (application deadline: December 15, 2024; document deadline, including Casper: January 15, 2025) or does not rank high enough to be offered an early admission seat at their first-choice site, then the applicant will be considered for regular admission, including second-choice site selection, later in the year without having to reapply.

*Note: The Lloydminster distributed nursing site at Lakeland College will be exempt from the BSN early admission pilot in 2024/25, due to complications related to the configuration and sequencing of the pre-professional courses at Lakeland College. Prospective nursing students applying to Lloydminster will be considered under the regular admission processes this year to ensure equity among the "Learn Where You Live" Lakeland College students.

Students may be considered for admission into the College of Nursing with a deficiency in ONE of the following pre-professional year courses:

• INDG 107 or HIST 195
• NUTR 120
• STAT 242, 244, 245, 246 or PLSC 214 (formerly PLSC 314), COMM 104, PSY 233, SOC 225 or GE 210
• SOC 112
• NURS 120
• Social Science restricted elective

We recommend students complete all required pre-professional year courses by April 30; however, students will be considered for admission with a deficiency.

A deficiency in the application to the BSN is defined by the College of Nursing as a pre-professional year course not completed by April 30 of the admission year. When the admission average is calculated, 50% will be used as the grade for the deficient class. This deficiency must be completed by the end of December of the year you are admitted but we recommend all deficiencies are completed in the spring and summer terms before beginning the nursing program. Proof of completion must be received by January 31 or you will be required to discontinue studies.

If you have been asked to provide proof of your English proficiency, you can do so in the following ways:

1. Completion of high school and post-secondary studies in English
   At least 3 years of full-time study in an approved English-medium secondary program including Grades 10, 11 and 12,¹

   AND

   at least 24 CU of the prerequisite nursing courses must be from a recognized post-secondary institution where English* is the official language of instruction and examination.¹

   * The post-secondary institution must declare English to be the only language of instruction and examination throughout the institution, not just in select departments.

   ¹ If secondary or post-secondary study occurred more than five years ago, additional proof of English proficiency may be required.

   The following English Language Curriculums would be considered acceptable at the high school level:

   • Canadian English-medium schools
   • Overseas schools offering a Canadian education system curriculum in English
   • US regionally-accredited English medium schools
   • International Baccalaureate Programme
   • India - IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education) and CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) only
   • GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) O (Ordinary) Level & GCE (General Certificate of Education) A (Advanced) Levels
   • NZQA (New Zealand Qualifications Authority)
   • Australian State Curriculums
   • CAPE (Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations)
   • SQA (Scottish Qualifications Authority)
   • NQAI (National Qualifications Authority of Ireland)
   • WBQ (Welsh Baccalaureate Qualification)

   Students who have not followed one of these secondary level curriculums, will be required to provide another form of proof of English proficiency. This list will be updated annually as required.

2. Completion of an accepted standardized test

   English proficiency test	Minimum score required for College of Nursing
   TOEFL iBT (Test of English as a Foreign Language)	90
   Reading	20
   Listening	22
   Speaking	26
   Writing	20
   IELTS (International English Language Testing System)	7
   Reading	6
   Listening	6
   Speaking	7
   Writing	6
   CAEL (Canadian Academic English Language Assessment)	70
   Reading	60
   Listening	60
   Speaking	70
   Writing	60

• Applicants are admitted on the basis of the required post-secondary course work and the results of their Casper exam.
• Applications are accepted from residents of all Canadian provinces and territories and international countries. Canadian or international residency status is not considered in the application process.

The University of Saskatchewan (USask) is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion, and proud to support academic opportunities for Indigenous students. We continue to grow our partnerships with Indigenous communities across the province, nationally and internationally and value the unique perspective that Indigenous students provide to strengthen these relationships. Verification of Indigenous membership/citizenship at USask is led and determined by the deybwewin | taapwaywin | tapewin: Indigenous Truth policy and Standing Committee in accordance with the processes developed to enact the policy.

16.6% of seats in this program are designated for Indigenous candidates who verified Indigenous membership/citizenship and verification of Indigenous membership/citizenship with documentation is required if you wish to be considered for one of these seats.

Candidates under consideration for these seats will be evaluated according to either:

• the standard selection criteria: academic record (60% weighting) and situational judgement test score (40% weighting)
  or
• academic record (100% weighting).

Please visit the Indigenous Membership/Citizenship Verification channel in PAWS and proceed through the verification system.

You can learn more about learn more about deybwewin | taapwaywin | tapwewin at indigenous.usask.ca. If you have any questions or require additional information about deybwewin | taapwaywin | tapwewin please contact: indigenoustruthpolicy@usask.ca.

The University of Saskatchewan provides services and/or accommodations for students with disabilities. All students with disabilities are encouraged to register with Access and Equity Services (AES). Access to most services and programs provided by AES is restricted to students who have registered with the office. If you have a disability you must contact AES.

International students are welcomed. Applicants who self-identify on the application form as being ESL (English as a Second Language) or EAL (English as an Additional Language) are required to provide proof of English proficiency to determine admission to the program.

If you are a Registered Nurse from outside of Canada, you must first apply for assessment through the National Nursing Assessment Service. If you are denied credentialing, then you may apply to study at the College of Nursing.

PN and LPN applicants will be given recognition for prior learning. Applicants who are graduates of the revised Saskatchewan Polytechnic Practical Nursing (PN) Program (first graduates in 2008) and are currently a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) or eligible for licensure in Saskatchewan will receive up to 27 transfer credit units towards the four-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing program.

For more information on the transfer credits available, please review the Fact Sheet for Practical Nurses or Licensed Practical Nurses.

Please contact an undergraduate nursing advisor to discuss credit transfers.

Students who have previously received a faculty action (required to discontinue, or RTD, required to withdraw, advised to discontinue, or academic probation) are required to submit a letter to the Admissions Office by the document deadline, June 1. The letter should explain the reason(s) for the faculty action and outline any strategies and supports implemented to promote future success in the Nursing program, if admitted to the College of Nursing. This letter will be reviewed by the Associate or Assistant Dean.  

Note: Students are not considered for application if they are currently in their RTD period.

Like standard applicants, transfer applicants are admitted on the basis of post-secondary work and a test of situational judgement and must meet the same admission criteria.

Any transfer credit given for prior nursing courses will be determined by the College of Nursing.

Transcripts from all post-secondary institutions (regardless of whether or not they pertain to nursing), must be mailed directly from the institution to Recruitment, Admissions and Transfer Credit. Please note the applicant cannot submit the transcript(s).

• Send official transcripts for all course work completed from each post-secondary institution (other than USask) you have attended.
• Submit an unofficial transcript or proof of registration for courses being taken between September and April of the year of your desired entrance date. A final transcript must be sent when all courses are complete.

If you are required to provide proof of English proficiency, it is your responsibility to have completed a relevant test with the appropriate score before the application deadline. View specific requirements above.

The University of Saskatchewan (USask) is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion, and proud to support academic opportunities for Indigenous students. We continue to grow our partnerships with Indigenous communities across the province, nationally and internationally and value the unique perspective that Indigenous students provide to strengthen these relationships. Verification of Indigenous membership/citizenship at USask is led and determined by the deybwewin | taapwaywin | tapewin: Indigenous Truth policy and Standing Committee in accordance with the processes developed to enact the policy.

16.6% of seats in this program are designated for Indigenous candidates who verified Indigenous membership/citizenship and verification of Indigenous membership/citizenship with documentation is required if you wish to be considered for one of these seats.

Candidates under consideration for these seats will be evaluated according to either:

• the standard selection criteria: academic record (60% weighting) and situational judgement test score (40% weighting)
  or
• academic record (100% weighting).

Please visit the Indigenous Membership/Citizenship Verification channel in PAWS and proceed through the verification system.

You can learn more about learn more about deybwewin | taapwaywin | tapwewin at indigenous.usask.ca. If you have any questions or require additional information about deybwewin | taapwaywin | tapwewin please contact: indigenoustruthpolicy@usask.ca.

The University of Saskatchewan provides services and/or accommodations for students with disabilities. All students with disabilities are encouraged to register with Access and Equity Services (AES). Access to most services and programs provided by AES is restricted to students who have registered with the office. If you have a disability you must contact AES. Learn more about the College of Nursing Access and Equity Services policy here.

Applicants who attended a nursing program in Canada and who have completed a minimum of six credit units or equivalent of nursing classes in Canada are required to submit the completed Program Reference Form. The program reference form will be used to access the applicant's suitability for admission, based on the applicant's academic standing and previous performance in a nursing program. If you previously attended the College of Nursing at the University of Saskatchewan please email your form to undergradnursing.advising@usask.ca.

Learn more about additional program requirements including health and safety, uniforms and supplies.