NexaGH
7 May 2026

NNAS Checklist: Kumasi Nurses Moving to Ontario in 2026

You are a Komfo Anokyo-trained RN in Kumasi, your husband works in logistics at Suame, and your two kids are in basic school near Asokwa. You want Ontario, specifically because your sister in Brampton has been telling you for three years that the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) pathway is workable if your NNAS file is clean. The question keeping you up is simple: what exactly does NNAS want from a Ghana-trained nurse in 2026, and how do you avoid the rework that delayed your colleague by eleven months?

This guide answers that directly, then walks through how to bring your husband and children with you on a pathway that gives him open work rights from day one.

The 12-Document NNAS Pack for Ghana Applicants in 2026

NNAS (the National Nursing Assessment Service) requires every document to come directly from the issuing body, not from you. For a Kumasi-trained RN heading to Ontario, your pack looks like this:

  1. NNAS application and account fee: USD 650, paid by card on the NNAS portal. At April 2026 rates that is roughly GHS 9,800.
  2. Government-issued photo ID: your Ghana passport bio page, notarised. Use a Commissioner for Oaths near Adum or the High Court registry.
  3. Nursing education form: sent by KNUST, the Nursing and Midwifery Training College (NMTC) Kumasi, or wherever you trained. The school mails the sealed form and your transcript directly to NNAS in Philadelphia.
  4. Course-by-course transcript: same envelope as above, sealed and signed across the flap.
  5. Nursing registration form: completed and mailed by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Ghana (N&MC) from their Accra head office on the Ridge. Allow 6 to 10 weeks. The N&MC portal sometimes marks requests as "processed" before the envelope actually leaves, so call the verification desk to confirm dispatch.
  6. Nursing employment form: one per employer in the last five years, sealed and mailed by HR.
  7. English language proof: IELTS Academic with 7.0 overall and 7.0 speaking, 6.5 reading and writing. Book at the British Council on Liberation Road in Accra or the IDP centre at Stanbic Heights. There is no permanent IELTS test centre in Kumasi, so plan for the STC trip.
  8. Name change documents if your maiden name is on your N&MC licence.
  9. Marriage certificate, certified copy, for your spousal application later.
  10. Children's birth certificates from the Births and Deaths Registry on the Kumasi side or wherever issued.
  11. Notarised translations for any document not in English (rare for Ghana files, but check if any school document is in another language).
  12. Self-declaration form, signed and uploaded inside your NNAS portal account.

The hazard most Ghana applicants hit: assuming the N&MC will respond to email. They will not. You need to physically walk the verification request to their Accra office or send a trusted person, with the NNAS instruction sheet attached. Budget two trips from Kumasi.

How This Connects to Your Husband and Kids

Once NNAS issues your Advisory Report, you submit to CNO and pursue the Internationally Educated Nurse (IEN) pathway. CNO will likely require a clinical competency assessment at one of the approved Ontario sites. Once you have a job offer or a study permit for a bridging program, your husband qualifies for an open work permit and your children get study permits as your dependants.

This is the reunification logic worth understanding: you are not going first and sending for them later. You apply together. Your husband's open work permit lets him take any job in Ontario, no employer sponsorship needed, from the day he lands. He is not tied to logistics work. He can pivot.

Realistic Timeline and Costs from Kumasi

  • Months 1 to 2: IELTS booking and prep, N&MC verification request, transcript requests
  • Months 3 to 5: documents arrive at NNAS, file becomes complete
  • Month 6: Advisory Report issued, CNO application submitted
  • Months 7 to 12: CNO assessment, job search, family permit applications

Total document and assessment cost lands around GHS 35,000 to GHS 50,000, or roughly CAD 3,200 to CAD 4,500, before flights and settlement funds. The IELTS retake risk is real. Budget for two attempts.

Next Step

If you want a Kumasi-specific timeline that maps your N&MC request, IELTS booking, and CNO submission against your children's school year, talk to a NexaGH advisor who has done this for Ghana families this year.

Get the weekly NexaGH briefing

One email a week. New draws, visa changes, and only actionable steps for Ghanaian professionals.

Local migration agents in Accra charge GHS 80,000 - 150,000 for the same route planning, and more for visitor visas alone. NexaGH gives you the exact same map, DIY, for GHS 5,999. You do the work. We hand you the playbook.

See your exact route in 2 minutes.

Take the pathway quiz. You answer 6 short questions about your age, profession, and where you want to go. We match you to the route and blueprint that fits.

Start my 2-min pathway quiz I already know my route Book a strategy call
Founding 100 cohort. You would be joining the first 100 buyers. Early buyers shape the next blueprint revisions and lock in lifetime access to updates as immigration rules change.