Petition Update: Our Advocacy Continues Ahead!
Dear Supporters,
The Canadian Nursing Students’ Association (CNSA) thanks everyone who has signed, shared, and supported our petition calling for a $300 million investment over five years to establish a Final Clinical Practicum Subsidy for nursing students across Canada.
We have submitted our proposal to the federal government and continue to bring nursing students’ experiences directly to federal decision-makers. Our advocacy will continue until nursing students receive meaningful financial support during their final clinical training.
Why We Are Calling for a Subsidy?
Near the end of their programs, nursing students complete intensive clinical placements. Depending on the program and jurisdiction, these placements may be called final practicums, consolidations, preceptorships, senior practicums, or final placements.
Students often work 8- or 12-hour shifts, including evenings, nights, and weekends . Under supervision, they take on increasing patient-care responsibilities and contribute meaningfully to healthcare delivery.
These placements are unpaid. Many students must reduce their paid work hours or leave their jobs while continuing to pay tuition, rent, food, transportation, families or dependents and other essential expenses.
We are not asking to be paid as registered nurses. We are asking for financial support that recognizes the demands of final clinical practicums and helps students meet their basic needs while completing their education.
This is both a student financial issue and a nursing workforce issue. Supporting students through their final training can:
Reduce barriers to graduation
Strengthen the transition into nursing practice
Help address Canada’s need for nurses
How You Can Help Today
Our petition is still open, and we need more signatures and broader support. Please take these three actions today:
Sign the petition. If you have not yet signed, add your name. Then send the petition directly to at least five people, including friends, family members, classmates, educators, nurses, colleagues, and community members. Ask them to sign as well.
Share the petition. Post the link on social media, group chats, student association channels, and nursing networks. Include this message: “Please sign and share this petition today to support a Final Clinical Practicum Subsidy for nursing students across Canada.”
Ask others to share it too. Encourage everyone you reach to sign, share the campaign, and send it to at least five more people. You do not need to be a nursing student or healthcare professional to support future nurses.
Please continue sharing the petition each week. Discuss it with your classmates and community, and tag relevant organizations and decision-makers when appropriate. Every signature demonstrates public support. Every share expands our reach. Every conversation strengthens the call for meaningful financial support for nursing students during their final clinical training.
Final clinical practicums should prepare us to become nurses—not push us into financial hardship before our careers begin.
Thank you for standing with nursing students and supporting this movement. Our advocacy does not stop here.
Canadian Nursing Students’ Association (CNSA)