Tehillah Karekezi knows first-hand how difficult it is to gain admission into a nursing program. Despite her top grades — an 87 per cent average — she found herself waitlisted at MacEwan University.
“I lost hope and started questioning if I was cut out to be a nurse,” she says. “I waited for my diploma grades to be released and spent the whole summer stressing out.”
This story is part of an editorial partnership between the Calgary Journal and MacEwan University journalism.
Months later, she was relieved to be finally taken off the waitlist and then accepted into the nursing program in Edmonton. But it was for the winter term and after she had spent a semester in a science program. The ordeal has made her support calls for change to give students like her a fair shot.
Nursing programs have become highly competitive, especially in Alberta, with high demand for some programs with limited capacity driving the admission average above 90 per cent.
The University of Calgary is therefore changing its admission process to take the pressure off what’s become an ultra-competitive standard, hoping to address the nursing shortage in the process.
Previously, prospective students needed an admission average of 90 percent or higher to be eligible to apply for the university’s nursing program. The U of C is lowering that academic standard to 82 per cent.
The university will then enact a lottery admission process that will randomly select students from this pool of applicants. All students who meet the new threshold will therefore have an equal chance of admission.
The new admission model comes into effect in the fall of 2026.
As stated on the U of C website, “The new lottery system is designed to provide all qualified applicants with an equal chance of admission, potentially altering future acceptance rates. This approach aims to alleviate the pressure on prospective students to achieve near-perfect grades and to broaden the range of candidates entering the nursing profession.”
The U of C found the old process of elimination was inadequate because it led to many qualified students to self-select out of the application process.
Dr. Catherine Laing, interim dean of U of C’s faculty of nursing, said some students with exceptional grades have also been taking the nursing degree as a stepping stone toward medical school or as a pathway to other professions.
“A nurse needs problem-solving skills, critical thinking skills. Students don’t necessarily have to be in the high 90s in the academic years in order to have those great skills. We also have to have social attributes, the ability to interact with all sorts of people.”
Rachelle Drechfler
“Sometimes that doesn’t always pan out, so I think what might be happening is people are ending up in the nursing profession who never really wanted to be in nursing in the first place,” she said.
Laing said these types of students are dispassionate towards nursing and more likely to leave the profession.
By expanding the admission criteria, Laing hopes to target the right applicant who is passionate about nursing and will remain within the profession after graduation.
Laing added that students who meet the 82 per cent average are just as capable as those who attained a higher academic standing. The ultra-competitive average for admission emerged simply because of high demand and limited capacity at schools.
Meanwhile, the profession continues to face a critical labour shortage. Registered nurse vacancies in Alberta doubled from 2018 to 2022, according to Statistics Canada.
A 2024 study from the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) also found that half of all nurses leave the profession before the age of 35.
The study reveals Alberta’s retention numbers are lower than the national average. The report suggests Canada will suffer a shortage of more than 117,000 nurses by 2030.
While there are a vast number of applications to nursing programs, about 40 per cent of nurses leave the profession within the first two years, according to Katherine How, executive director of the Alberta Association of Nurses. That’s why it’s important to attract nursing students who bring more to the profession than high grades, she said.
“They need to be empathetic, perform a physical and emotional skill,” she said. “That takes more than marks.” How added, “That doesn’t mean that if you have a 98 per cent you’re not a caring and compassionate person. But neither does that mean that if you don’t have a 98, you won’t make a good nurse.”
Rachelle Drechfler, a public health nurse in central Alberta, is hoping the U of C’s lottery system will make a difference.
“I hope it encourages more people to apply in favour of not having to attain such a high mark to apply,” she said.
Drechfler also noted, “A nurse needs problem-solving skills, critical thinking skills. Students don’t necessarily have to be in the high 90s in the academic years in order to have those great skills. We also have to have social attributes, the ability to interact with all sorts of people.”
Karekezi agrees, saying she never would have doubted her abilities if the new application process had been in place when she applied to the nursing program.
“As a nursing student, I’m jealous they didn’t implement this when I was applying,” said Karekezi. “I’ve heard my classmates say it’ll lower standards and impact the quality of education, but I disagree since there’s still a minimum grade requirement. Just because you’re admitted doesn’t mean you go straight into practicing nursing. You still have to meet standard requirements, pass the NCLEX, and prove competency.”
The old application process meant she had almost given up on her dream of becoming a nurse.
“It would’ve saved me a lot of stress, uncertainty, and a semester in sciences,” she added. “Knowing I met the requirements from the start would’ve given me more confidence and peace of mind.”