Canada needs nurses. But nursing students need to be able to afford to finish becoming them.

Across Canada, nursing students complete hundreds of hours of mandatory clinical education before they can graduate and enter the profession. During their final clinical practicum, many students are completing schedules comparable to full-time work, significantly limiting their ability to maintain paid employment.

But clinical does not make the cost of living disappear. Students still have to pay for rent, groceries, tuition, transportation, parking and childcare. Some also face additional costs for travel, temporary accommodation, relocation and required clinical equipment.

For students already struggling financially, the final stretch of nursing school can become one of the hardest to afford.

A national survey conducted by the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions in partnership with the Canadian Nursing Students' Association heard from 3,571 nursing students across Canada:

82% were concerned about their finances.
60% said existing financial supports were inadequate.
28% had considered leaving or transferring from their nursing program because of financial difficulties.

Yet 89% intended to work full-time after graduation.

These are students who want to join Canada's nursing workforce. We need to help them get there.

The Canadian Nursing Students' Association (CNSA) is calling on the Government of Canada to invest $300 million over five years in a National Nursing Student Clinical Education Support Strategy.

The investment would fund provincially and territorially administered, needs-based Final Clinical Practicum Subsidy programs for students completing recognized entry-to-practice RN, LPN/RPN and Registered Psychiatric Nursing programs.

This assistance would help students manage the financial pressures associated with completing their mandatory final clinical education while ensuring students remain learners, not employees or replacements for regulated nursing staff.

By the time a student reaches their final practicum, Canada has already invested substantially in their education.

We should not allow financial barriers at the very end of that education to prevent students from reaching the workforce.

Canada's nursing workforce strategy cannot end with creating nursing-school seats. It must ensure that the students filling those seats can reach the workforce Canada needs.

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Stand with nursing students across Canada!

The Canadian Nursing Students' Association (CNSA) is asking Canadians to sign this petition and call on the Government of Canada to invest $300 million over five years to support nursing students through their final clinical education.

Whether you are a nursing student, nurse, educator, healthcare professional, patient, family member, or someone who cares about the future of Canada's healthcare system, your support can help demonstrate that investing in nursing students is an investment in Canada's nursing workforce.

Canada needs nurses. Nursing students are ready to answer that call. Let's make sure they can afford to get there.

Learn more about CNSA's proposal and read the full federal submission: https://www.cnsa.ca/updates/cnsa-calls-for-300-million-federal-investment-in-nursing-students

Canadian Nursing Students' Association (CNSA)