Yes, but plan for two separate approvals with a national step in between. At the federal level, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the immigration department, judges whether a vet can immigrate, for example as a permanent resident (PR) with the right to live in Canada permanently. The right to practise comes from a provincial licensing body, and Job Bank, the federal jobs site, says a provincial licence to practise is required for veterinarians. Before that licence, the National Examining Board (NEB) of the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) grants a Certificate of Qualification (CQ), and passing its examination or holding the certificate is a prerequisite to apply for a general licence from any provincial licensing body. Neither permission replaces the other. Which exams you face depends on whether your veterinary school is accredited.

Getting licensed as a veterinarian in Canada

In Canada, each province has a licensing body set up by law, and the specific requirements, exams included, differ from one province to the next. On behalf of some of these bodies, the NEB reviews the credentials of graduates of veterinary schools outside Canada. Your exams depend on your school:

• Schools accredited by the CVMA or the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA): once the NEB approves your application, you register for the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination (NAVLE). This multiple-choice exam tests the knowledge needed for entry-level private practice, across the animal species that private practitioners in North America commonly see.
• Other schools: after the NEB's credential assessment, you must first pass the Basic and Clinical Sciences Examination (BCSE), a computer-based test of basic and clinical veterinary science. You can then take the NAVLE and the Clinical Proficiency Examination (CPE), a practical exam that involves examining and treating live animals, in the order you choose.

For graduates of non-accredited schools, the NEB has also offered alternative routes since April 2020. In one of them, after passing the BCSE, you complete the final clinical year at a CVMA- or AVMA-accredited school, which you arrange yourself, and then take the NAVLE; if you do not pass the NAVLE within three attempts, you must also complete the CPE.

Attempts count. Candidates can take the NAVLE up to five times, and from the March 2026 testing window, graduates of an accredited college must pass within five attempts to be eligible for a CQ, with no waiver after the fifth.

Immigration routes for veterinarians

Through Express Entry, IRCC takes PR applications online for its federal programs for skilled workers. If you are eligible for one of them, your profile enters a pool of candidates and receives a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score, and rounds of invitations go to the top-ranked candidates who are eligible. Our Express Entry guide explains the system, and our CRS calculator gives you a rough idea of your points.

Veterinarians appear on IRCC's occupation list for health and social services rounds. When IRCC holds a round for that list, it ranks just the candidates who qualify for it, which narrows the field. Qualifying takes 12 months or more of full-time work, or the same total of part-time work, in one listed occupation over the past three years, gained in Canada or abroad, and the months need not be continuous. You also need to meet Express Entry's own minimum criteria. Our guide to category rounds goes into more detail.

Provinces and territories nominate some people for PR, and a nomination linked to an Express Entry profile adds 600 points. Our provincial nominee guide explains the process. Provincial routes that name veterinarians include:

• British Columbia: B.C.'s provincial nominee program says it will prioritize veterinarians who are working toward Canadian certification, and it lists them under veterinary care among the workers who may receive targeted invitations to apply.
• Saskatchewan: the Health Talent Pathway includes veterinarians in its list of eligible health occupations, and its conditions include a permanent, full-time job offer in the province and eligibility for Saskatchewan licensing where the job needs it.

Can you work in a clinic before passing every exam?

In Ontario, possibly. The College of Veterinarians of Ontario (CVO) can grant a restricted licence with supervision to graduates of acceptable non-accredited schools who have passed the BCSE and the NAVLE, before they pass the CPE. Its Registration Committee decides each application case by case and normally grants the licence for 25 months. You work under a signed supervision agreement with a primary supervisor licensed in Ontario at each practice, and if you have not yet attempted the CPE, your first 480 hours at each location are under direct supervision. The CVO also says you may not begin to practise until it has licensed you and sent written confirmation with a licence number. Other provinces set their own rules, so ask the licensing body where you plan to work.

Can one language test count for the NEB and for Express Entry?

Yes, if you choose it carefully. The NEB accepts three kinds of language proof: a veterinary degree taught entirely in English or French, a certificate from the AVMA's Educational Commission for Foreign Veterinary Graduates (ECFVG), or a test result. Its newer list of tests, which it already accepts and which becomes the only one on 1 January 2027, includes IELTS General Training, CELPIP-General, PTE Core, TEF Canada and TCF Canada, the tests IRCC accepts for Express Entry. The NEB sets its own minimum in each skill, for example 7 in IELTS reading, speaking and writing and 6.5 in listening. Its older list shares no test with IRCC's, and IRCC wants results less than 2 years old both when you complete your profile and when you apply for PR.

A common mistake veterinarians make

Treating the Certificate of Qualification as a licence. The NEB says it has no power to license or discipline veterinarians: the CQ is a prerequisite for applying to a provincial licensing body, and each province decides its own requirements. A province may even ask for further examinations in addition to, or instead of, those behind the CQ. So write to the registrar of the licensing body in the province where you want to work, as the NEB advises, to learn what that province requires.

First steps

1. Find out whether your school is accredited by the CVMA or AVMA, since that decides whether the NEB's process starts you on the NAVLE or the BCSE.
2. Apply to the NEB and have your university send the transcripts on its checklist directly.
3. If your degree was not taught entirely in English or French, choose a test from the NEB's newer list that also appears on IRCC's.
4. Count your veterinary work in the past three years against IRCC's 12-month rule.
5. Contact the licensing body in your chosen province, found through Job Bank's list, about its own requirements.