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Provisional registration


Provisional registration may be granted to eligible applicants who want to work while meeting their outstanding registration requirements. If you are granted provisional registration you will be assigned specific conditions you must meet to be eligible for practising registration. When these conditions are met, your provisional registration is automatically converted to practising registration.

If you are not planning to practice nursing before gaining full registration, you do not need provisional registration.​

How to apply 

There is no separate application for provisional registration. You will be asked if you want to be considered for provisional registration when you complete your application for practising registered nurse registration​.

What you need to know​

Eligibility
To qualify for registered nurse (provisional) registration, an applicant must have applied to take, or be awaiting the results of the nurse examination and have met all the other requirements for practising registration.
Responsibilities and privileges
Provisional registrants must satisfy BCCNM's Professional Standards​​, Scope of Practice Standards​ and Practice Standards and all conditions placed on their registration.
Use of title
Individuals with provisional registration may call themselves a “registered nurse (provisional)" or "RN (provisional)." Check the Use of Title pra​ctice standard​ ​for more information.
​Possible conditions on practice​
  • That you must write and pass the written entry-to-practice registration examination.
  • Provisional registrants may be supervised by a registered nurse or nurse practitioner registered with BCCNM. This requirement only applies to provisional registrants who have a condition on their registration that requires their practice to be monitored/supervised.​

Registration renewal​
Converting to practising registration​
Upon meeting all assigned conditions, your registration will automatically be converted to practising registration.​​​​​​

Provisional registration and NCLEX-RN

If you pass
We will notify you of your exam results and any outstanding requirements for registration. If you have met all requirements and have provisional registration, your provisional registration will automatically be converted to "practising registered nurse" registration. This can be verified online using the nurse verification tool instantly.
If you fail once

You can continue working on provisional registration after one exam fail. You’ll be eligible to write the exam again in 45 days from the date of the first attempt. It is your responsibility to inform all of your current o​r prospective employers of your unsuccessful exam result and updated provisional registration conditions.

If you do not currently ​​hold provisional registration or if you intend to add additional employers to your provisional registration and you have failed the exam one time:

  • You must inform all of your prospective employers that you were not successful on the exam.
  • Request provisional registration by contacting BCCNM at register@bccnm.ca. You must notify your prospective employer of your previous exam result. ​
If you fail twice

If you fail the ​N​CLEX a second time, you are no longer eligible for provisional RN registration and will not be considered for registration until you pass the exam.

  • Notice of e​​xpiry to registrant: Your provisional registration will expire expire approximately four to six weeks after being notified of your second failure. You will receive an email confirming these details two to five business days after receiving your exam results. You MUST notify your employer(s) of the new expiry date.​​​​