Practical Nursing Diploma to Bachelor of Science in Nursing Degree Transfer Program

Program Information

Nursing is a profession that blends science with caring, and technology with humanity. Nurse researchers study the science and the art of caring. Nurse clinicians use technology to improve their nursing care. Whether in the hospital, in the school, in long term care, in industry, in the community or in the home, nurses make a difference. You too will make a difference at Lakehead University. At Lakehead University, we offer a four-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) program. We also offer a three-year compressed BScN program. In the compressed program, you will be required to enroll in spring/summer courses; however, this fast-tracked program allows you to write the Nurse Registration Examination one year earlier than students in the four-year program.

How the Transfer Program Works

You enter into Year 1 of either the four-year BScN program, or the three-year Compressed BScN program, with 2.5 full course equivalents of transfer credits. These courses are added to your Lakehead transcript.  

To see the courses that are part of your program, refer to our Academic Calendar and select:

  1. Programs & Faculties from the menu,
  2. Undergraduate Programs from the Faculty of Health & Behavioural Sciences section, 
  3. School of Nursing from the list of programs, and 
  4. Select either program from the list at the bottom of the page. 

Admission Requirements

To be consider for admission and for transfer credit, you must:

  • Complete a two-year Practical Nursing diploma from an accredited Ontario college
  • Achieve an overall average of at least 70% (for the 4-year program) or 80% (for the 3-year, compressed program),
    • Meeting the minimum average requirement does not guarantee admission. 
  • Be registered with the College of Nurses of Ontario and are eligible to practice in Ontario, and
  • Meet the prerequisite requirements.

Prerequisite Requirements:

All applicants must meet the prerequisite requirements. This includes the following Ontario Grade 12 university-level courses or equivalent: English (ENG4U), Biology (SBI4U), Chemistry (SCH4U) and Mathematics (MCV4U, MDM4U or MHF4U). A grade of 60% is required in each course. The course content of the Practical Nursing diploma may not satisfy these requirements. In many instances, applicants tend to be deficient in Chemistry and Mathematics. All applicants are encouraged to speak with Student Central regarding their eligibility.

Application Process

To apply, please:

  1. Use the OUAC Undergraduate Application. You may need to create an account first, if you have never applied using the Ontario Universities' Application Centre (OUAC) before. 
  2. Select the program Nursing (Pathways with All Ontario Colleges) (Thunder Bay Campus only)The OUAC program code is ABH.
  3. Select your program of choice from the Subject of Major Interest drop-down menu. 
  4. As you proceed through the application process, use the Online Transcript Request to have your transcript(s) sent to us, if applicable: 
    1. We require all of your post-secondary transcripts (i.e. from all colleges and universities attended).
    2. We do not require your high school transcript.
    3. Some colleges do not add in progress courses to their transcripts. If you are currently completing courses, you are encouraged to upload a screenshot of your upcoming winter term courses to your myInfo account. You will receive your myInfo login credentials in an acknowledgement email from us upon receipt of your application (which can take a few days after you apply using the OUAC).

Who Can I Contact If I Need Assistance?

If you have questions about the transfer program, and/or your application statuscontact Student Central.  

If you encounter issues with the application and/or requesting online transcripts, contact the OUAC

If you cannot access myInfo (our student information portal), try to recover your account first. If that does not work, contact Student Central

Fees

Learn more about the fees (e.g. application, transcript, document evaluation, etc.) that the OUAC charges

Learn more about the tuition & student fees for your transfer program. Keep in mind that the upcoming school year's fees are not available until June. Before June, you will most likely see last year's amounts. Refer to the Academic Year field if you are unsure.  

To help fund your education, learn more about our scholarships, bursaries and awards

If you are interested in applying for the Ontario Student Assistance Program, learn more about the program and its criteria

Other Important Information

Take a look at our College & University Transfer Guide

Check out our campus. You can take a virtual tour, or you can book a campus tour

We also host numerous events throughout the year. We encourage you to attend one of our events to learn more about the transfer program.