The first graduates from the Indo-Canadian nursing program are expected to begin work in the fall

When Dichen Palmo found out about the bilateral nursing program between Canada and India, she said she felt like God had given her a second chance.

The Tibetan lives in India, where her situation makes it difficult to travel or even find work. She thought the best way to do both was through her education.

“My mom said, ‘Go for it, go for it! I’m for you!'” Palmo said in an interview with CTV News.

Fast forward almost four years and Palmo is in Fredericton, NB starting her six-week internship at Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital and Shanix Long-Term Care Home.

He will be part of the first graduating class of 25 students from the dual degree program in the fall. After graduation, she will receive a nursing degree from both Manipal College of Nursing and the University of New Brunswick.

The program was created in part because of a persistent nursing shortage in NB

“If we look at our county, there are ten other clinics that need nurses. So there’s always a need,” said Dr. Lorna Butler, UNB’s dean of nursing and one of the program’s founders.

She said it is also considered ethical, as 25 students are on top of the available nursing seats in India.

The editors went through the curriculum at Manipal Line-For-Line, to verify that it includes everything needed to work as a registered nurse in Canada.

After students complete their Canadian practicum, they will also write the National Council for Registered Nurses Licensing Exam – to obtain a Canadian license. Butler said he wants to make sure graduates can enter Canada’s health care system without waiting for accreditation.

But students are not expected to return to Canada and work if they don’t want to.

Butler is hoping to return at least 19 of the 25 students. She says she has spoken with government and consular representatives to make sure graduates don’t face any obstacles in navigating Canada’s new immigration policy.

“The government here is working on our behalf to reduce what’s happening in the world,” she said. “I mean, we can’t predict what’s going to happen, but we’ve just gotten to some of the relationship issues with India and we’ve been able to, I think, repair it based on Prime Minister (Mark) Carney’s recent visit…”

Butler says he is not concerned about Ottawa’s international student cap, as 25 are receiving their education in India and are not full-time international students.

But for students looking to transition to full-time work in the province, challenges can arise due to Canada’s 2026 immigration plan.

The 2026 goal of 380,000 new permanent residents is a slight decrease from the 395,000 accepted in 2025 and a big change from 2024, when more than 483,000 were welcomed. The number of new permanent residents will remain at 380,000 by 2028.

Butler reiterated that NB Province is in constant contact with her and is working with immigration officials to get graduates accepted to positions in the province as soon as possible.

Students say, this is my biggest opportunity

During an interview with CTV News, Palmo and her classmate, Jennifer Joseph, expressed how grateful they were to be a part of the program.

They explained the differences between the two countries’ health care systems, explaining that India has more students than Canada and at least one or on-the-job training.

“In India, only about 50 percent of hospitals do all documentation through computers. All other documentation is by written notes,” Joseph said. “So I think all the documentation here is done by computer. So that’s a big difference for us.”

Dr. Butler said Horizon Health Network is willing to provide letters of recommendation to graduates upon completion of the licensing exam.

Joseph and Palmo say once they have those letters in hand, they want to return to Canada and start a career in nursing.

“I said right away, even if it’s the day after the (graduation) ceremony, I’m going to come,” Palmo said. “I really want to be here because this is my biggest opportunity.”

The 19 students began on-the-job training after receiving their coats in a ceremony at UNB on Monday.

They’ve spent the last few days exploring what could be their new home, Fredericton, so far they feel welcome.

“We were driving back to college and the taxi driver asked, ‘You’re a nursing student, right?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah!’ And they said, ‘We really need you. Thanks for coming,” Joseph said.

“So it was a really amazing moment … people are encouraging us to work here and see us as our people, as our community.”