How to Become a Registered Nurse in Manitoba

In Manitoba, everyone who works as a registered nurse must be registered with the College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba (CRNM). You cannot practise as a registered nurse, or use the designation registered nurse, RN, or graduate nurse, GN, without holding a valid certificate of practice with the College in the registered nurse or graduate nurse membership class. This guide walks the full path: the education, the exam, graduate nurse registration, and final RN registration — plus the Manitoba-specific steps the College publishes, and the separate paths for nurses already registered elsewhere in Canada and nurses trained outside Canada.

Step 1: Complete an approved Bachelor of Nursing program in Manitoba

Start with an approved Manitoba registered nursing education program. In Manitoba that means a Bachelor of Nursing (BN):

• Red River College Polytechnic — a 32-month Bachelor of Nursing program, equivalent to four academic years, including a senior practicum of 450 hours. It is offered in Winnipeg (Notre Dame Campus), Portage la Prairie, and Winkler. The Winnipeg program is open to Manitoba residents only, and the Portage and Winkler seats are open to residents of Manitoba's Southern Health Region only. Graduates receive a Bachelor of Nursing degree and are eligible to apply to write the NCLEX-RN and then apply to the College.
• University of Manitoba — a four-year Bachelor of Nursing program through the College of Nursing.
• Brandon University — a four-year Bachelor of Nursing program through the Faculty of Health Studies.

The College assesses exam eligibility for applicants who have completed a College-approved program, so confirm your program is approved before you enrol. The College's NCLEX-RN exam page states the rule plainly: to be eligible to write the NCLEX through CRNM, you must have completed an approved Manitoba education program. Graduates from other Canadian jurisdictions establish NCLEX eligibility through the regulatory body in the jurisdiction where they completed their education, not through CRNM.

Step 2: Apply for NCLEX-RN eligibility and register with Pearson VUE

The NCLEX-RN is the approved exam for establishing initial RN registration in Manitoba. Applicants who have successfully written the exam since 1982 are eligible for registration, provided they have met all other requirements.

1. Apply to the College for exam eligibility. Submit the NCLEX-RN Eligibility application form through your CRNM profile. Testing accommodations are available, but the accommodation forms must be submitted with the eligibility application.
2. Register with Pearson VUE at the same time. Exam sittings take place at Pearson VUE Testing Centres. Register online at Pearson VUE or by phone at 1-866-496-2539 (Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. CST). You can register and write the exam in English or French.
3. Pay the exam fee. The fee to write the exam is $360 CAD. You receive your results directly from the College.

Two timing rules matter. First, you may write the NCLEX-RN only once every 45 days — a Pearson VUE rule to prevent writers from seeing the same question more than once. Second, Canadian-educated applicants have as many attempts as are possible within the three years immediately following the completion date of their nursing education program. Prepare with the free resources from the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN); the College states it does not endorse any third-party study guides or materials.

If you fail the exam, submit a new application — you do not need to contact the College to confirm this. The registration team usually processes it within five business days, and once approved you receive an authorization to test email from Pearson VUE and can schedule the exam. There is no requirement to complete a course of instruction after a second NCLEX-RN failure.

Step 3: Register as a graduate nurse so you can work while you wait

You do not have to wait for exam day to start working. Once you have been given exam eligibility and scheduled your NCLEX-RN writing with Pearson VUE, you can apply for registration as a graduate nurse (GN): log in to your CRNM profile and submit the Active GN application with the applicable fee. If you graduated from a program outside Manitoba, you are eligible to apply for GN registration once you have booked your NCLEX exam date through the regulatory body in your home jurisdiction or elsewhere.

The 2025 GN membership class fees published by the College are:

• NCLEX application processing fee: $220.50
• GN application processing fee: $147.00 (initial applications only)
• Certificate of Registration: $52.50 (initial registration only)
• Certificate of Practice (4 months): $183.75
• Total registration fees: $383.25
• Certificate of Practice renewal (4 months): $183.75

All fees are non-refundable and non-transferable. The hard limit on this route: graduate nurses who do not pass the exam on their second write are not eligible to hold a certificate of practice in the GN membership class — their names are removed — and are not permitted to engage in GN practice.

Step 4: Write and pass the NCLEX-RN

Write the exam at your scheduled Pearson VUE Testing Centre. The exam includes an optional special research section after the regular exam ends; it is not scored and does not count toward your score. Results come directly from the College. After passing, you will receive an application form with your exam results for registration in the RN membership class.

Step 5: Apply for registration in the registered nurse membership class

Once you have passed the NCLEX-RN and met all other requirements, apply for registration on the practising register in the RN membership class. The College assesses each application on knowledge, skills and abilities in nursing, comparability of education and training, language proficiency, and overall fitness to practise. Two requirements apply to every applicant:

• Background check. Background checks are required under the Regulated Health Professions Act and the College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba General Regulation. If you are applying for initial registration or reinstatement, you must submit a background check.
• English language proficiency. All applicants must meet the English language proficiency requirement. The College's approved tests are the Canadian English Language Benchmark Assessment for Nurses (CELBAN), the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Academic or General, the Occupational English Test (OET), and the Pearson Test of English – Academic (PTE).

Once approved, you hold a certificate of practice in the RN membership class and can practise as a registered nurse and use the RN designation in Manitoba. The College's students and graduate nurses page states that the RN membership class fees are due after passing the NCLEX-RN, but the amounts for a new graduate's RN registration were not listed on the official pages — check the College's fee page before you apply rather than budgeting from the transfer-in fees below, which are a different stream.

If you are already an RN in another Canadian jurisdiction

Use the College's Canadian RNs stream, which you can now submit entirely online through the College's Alinity system. This stream is for you if you are or have ever been registered as an RN in another Canadian jurisdiction, or if you passed the entry-level nursing exam in another Canadian jurisdiction and did not obtain initial RN registration.

• Application: create an account in Alinity, then submit the Active RN application in your CRNM profile with the non-refundable application processing fee.
• Verification of registration: verification of all current registrations, and any registrations held in the previous seven years, is required. Verifications are valid for one year from the date completed.
• Verification of practice hours: complete the verification of practice hours form and submit it to all employers you worked for in the past five years.
• Language proficiency: all applicants must meet the English language proficiency requirement.
• Liability protection: obtain professional liability protection through the Canadian Nurses Protective Society (CNPS).
• Fees (2025, as published): the application processing fee is $231.00, due with the application. On approval, the certificate of practice and certificate of registration fees depend on the quarter you register: $604.16 in total for Quarter 1 (January 1 to December 31), $466.24 for Quarter 2, $328.34 for Quarter 3, and $190.42 for Quarter 4. Fees can be paid by e-transfer, credit card, or certified cheque or money order by mail, and work will not begin on your application until payment has been received.
• Education timing rule: if you completed your basic nursing education on or after May 31, 2018, you must have obtained active registration with the regulatory body in the jurisdiction where you completed your basic nursing education to be eligible for registration in the RN membership class.

If you are unsure which stream fits your situation, the College's Registration Pathway Coordinator can help identify the right pathway, including expedited registration and currency-of-practice requirements. Reach them at pathfinder@crnm.mb.ca, or 204-774-3477 (select option 9), or toll-free in Manitoba at 1-800-665-2027.

If you trained as a nurse outside Canada

Internationally educated nurses follow a separate path. All internationally educated nurses must first apply through the National Nursing Assessment Service (NNAS) and have an educational credential assessment report completed by an accepted provider and sent directly to the College — do not submit an application to the College until the advisory report is prepared. The College then assesses your documents for evidence of competence substantially equivalent to Manitoba's requirements, and refers you for a registered nurse competence assessment if competence cannot be determined from your documents. You must complete the Registered Nurse Practice Course (NRSG-1012) offered through Red River College Polytechnic, demonstrate English language proficiency, and write and pass the NCLEX-RN. The College's standard-pathway instructions list an application processing fee of $483.00 CAD and an RN competence assessment fee of $281.40, and note that if all requirements are not received within six months of the file being opened, the file will be closed and you must begin the application process over again. A separate expedited registration pathway exists for nurses who completed their education in the last two years, or practised at least 450 hours in the last two years or 1,125 hours in the last five years, in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, or the United Kingdom, and hold current registration in good standing there — if you meet those criteria, use the expedited application instead.

What this guide could not verify

The fee amounts for a new graduate's registration in the RN membership class were not listed on the College pages, so no RN registration fee for new graduates is stated here; check the CRNM students and graduate nurses page before applying. Bachelor of Nursing tuition amounts at Manitoba schools were not verified on the official pages, so no tuition figure is stated. The College publishes 2025 fees on the official pages; 2026 fee amounts were not published there, so every fee in this guide is labelled with its year as published. Processing times for a new graduate's RN application were not published on the official pages, so no timeline is stated.

Related guides:

• How to Become a Registered Nurse in Ontario — the Ontario RN path through the College of Nurses of Ontario, for comparison with Manitoba's CRNM process.
• How to Become a Registered Nurse in British Columbia — the British Columbia RN path, including its own regulator and exam steps.
• How to Become a Nurse Practitioner in Ontario — the next step after RN registration for nurses who want extended-class practice.
• How to Get a Manitoba Health Card in Manitoba — Manitoba health coverage, the practical companion step for anyone moving to Manitoba to nurse.

Sources

• College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba, Applicants — everyone working as an RN in Manitoba must be registered with the College; the four application streams; background checks required for initial registration; approved English language tests; Registration Pathway Coordinator contact details.
• College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba, NCLEX-RN Exam — NCLEX-RN is the approved exam for initial RN registration; Manitoba program requirement for CRNM exam eligibility; the $360 CAD exam fee; once every 45 days; three-year attempt window; graduate nurse registration rules and the second-write limit; Pearson VUE registration.
• College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba, Students and GNs — who the student and graduate nurse stream is for; online application through Alinity; the 2025 GN fees totalling $383.25; RN membership class fees due after passing the NCLEX-RN.
• College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba, Canadian RNs — the Canadian RNs stream and its eligibility; the 2025 $231.00 application processing fee and the quarterly certificate of practice totals; e-transfer, credit card, and certified cheque payment options.
• College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba, Instructions for Canadian RN Applicants — verification of registration for the previous seven years; verification of practice hours for the past five years; English language proficiency; professional liability protection through the Canadian Nurses Protective Society; the May 31, 2018 education rule.
• College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba, Instructions for Internationally Educated Nurses — Standard Pathway — NNAS and educational credential assessment first; the $483.00 application processing fee and $281.40 competence assessment fee; the Registered Nurse Practice Course requirement; the six-month file rule; the expedited-pathway criteria.
• Red River College Polytechnic, Nursing program catalogue — the 32-month Bachelor of Nursing, the 450-hour senior practicum, the Winnipeg, Portage la Prairie, and Winkler campuses, Manitoba-resident eligibility, and eligibility to apply to write the NCLEX-RN and register with the College.