In recent admissions data from IRCC, Canada's immigration department, two routes stand out for Ghanaians: sponsorship by a spouse or partner who is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, and nomination by a province or territory, which picks people whose skills its economy needs. For workers, health care is the field to note: IRCC's Express Entry report for 2024 lists Ghana among the most common countries of citizenship in its rounds for healthcare workers. Express Entry is the online system that ranks skilled-worker candidates by points, and these category rounds invite only candidates with recent experience, in Canada or abroad, in listed health and social-service occupations such as nursing.

A health worker should open two files at once. One is the Express Entry profile, with an approved language test result and an educational credential assessment, the report comparing your Ghanaian qualification with Canadian ones. The other is the licence: nurses educated abroad start with the National Nursing Assessment Service (NNAS), whose reports every nursing regulator outside Quebec and the territories accepts and which advises beginning before or alongside the immigration process; most of its documents must come directly from third parties such as your nursing school and licensing body. For the later police certificate, IRCC's page for Ghana describes applying in person at the police's criminal investigation headquarters in Accra, but the Ghana Police Service now takes applications and payment online, and you then book an appointment at a centre you choose.

The mistake to avoid is treating an invitation from a healthcare round, or permanent residence itself, as permission to practise. To work in a regulated occupation such as nursing, you need your credentials recognized and a licence from the regulator in the province where you plan to work, which the Government of Canada warns takes time and can be costly. A nurse can arrive as a permanent resident yet be unable to work as one until licensed, so contact your province's regulator before you move.