Timelines for registration processes

Important notice about using third parties in your application

You must complete and submit the application to CNO yourself. CNO is available to help you throughout the application process. If you choose to get help from a third party, such as an immigration consultant, NCLEX preparation service, online group, friends or other advisors when preparing your application to become a nurse in Ontario, you should never share your login details, allow someone else to sign into your account, or let anyone submit or verify information on your behalf. Doing so may affect your eligibility for registration. Learn more.

To ensure that every applicant receives fair and equitable treatment, every application to CNO is assessed individually.

As a result, the time required to complete the application and assessment process can vary from one applicant to the next.

CNO is committed to processing your application as quickly as possible. To help facilitate this, we ask you to submit the information we request as soon as you can. The longer it takes for you to submit information, the longer the process will take.

CNO makes every effort to acknowledge all written correspondence from applicants within 15 days. If we cannot address your issue that quickly, we will acknowledge receipt of the correspondence and provide information about next steps.

The assessment and registration process

Initial application

Registration Activity	How long will it take?
Complete your application and submit it to CNO. Pay the application fee. CNO will then acknowledge receipt of your application, review it and inform you of next steps and whether you have any requirements outstanding.	Up to 15 days

Note: If you are an internationally educated applicant, CNO must receive a report from an education credential assessment service provider before you can submit your application.

Language proficiency

Registration Activity	How long will it take?
You can meet the language proficiency requirement in several ways (see Proficiency in English or French). If you submit evidence that you meet the requirement through your education or work experience, CNO will update this information on your online application.	Up to 15 days after CNO receives your evidence of acceptable education or work experience in English or French.
Language tests If language proficiency is outstanding in your application, we encourage you to take a language proficiency test. After the test provider sends your test results to CNO, we will update this information on your online application.	Up to 15 days after CNO receives your language proficiency test results.

Other registration requirements

Registration Activity	How long will it take?
Evidence of practice has expired	If your evidence of practice expires, it will take up to 15 days to provide you with a status update and steps to follow to meet the requirement.
Registration exam (after CNO receives your results) Note: CNO does not accept exam results directly from the applicant.	Up to 5 days after CNO receives notice that you passed the registration exam, we will update this information on your application. Up to 5 days after CNO receives notice that you failed the exam we will update this information on your application. Up to 15 days after CNO receives your results from another nursing jurisdiction.
Jurisprudence exam (you can write this exam anytime after you open your application)	Up to 24 hours after you finish the exam, CNO will receive your result and update the information on your application.
Police criminal record check	Up to 5 days after receiving your police criminal record check result, CNO will either update your application or inform you that we require further information about your criminal history.
Transition to Practice	Up to 15 days after CNO receives your Verification of Course Completion results from your school, or Verification of Registration or Practice in Canada.
Authorization to Work You must provide proof that you are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, or another immigration document that authorizes you to practice nursing in Ontario.	Up to 15 days after CNO receives your document to let you know whether the requirement is met, or to provide you with the next steps you need to take.
CNO confirms applicant is eligible for registration	Immediate As soon as you have met all registration requirements, you will receive a message through the applicant portal advising that you are eligible to register and telling you what to do next.
Applicant becomes registered to practice in Ontario after fully completing the registration requirements and paying fees online.	Immediate

Reasons your registration may be delayed

Your registration may be delayed if you:

graduate from a nursing or practical nursing program that doesn’t meet the education requirement
don’t provide evidence that you have practiced nursing or graduated from a nursing program within the past three years
don’t provide evidence of language proficiency in either English or French
submit official documents in languages other than English or French (for more information, see the Translation of Documents section of our Outside Canada registration guide)
have not passed the national registration exam
fail to meet the Transition to Practice requirement

If you have failed to meet any registration requirement, you will need to complete further steps to become eligible for registration with CNO. We will tell you what options you have for meeting your outstanding requirements. Some options, such as additional education or work experience, may take a significant amount of time to complete.

Your registration may also be delayed if

you take a long time to provide documents requested by CNO
CNO receives information that requires further assessment to ensure you have the knowledge, skill and judgment to practice nursing safely and competently
CNO receives information that requires further assessment of your character, conduct or health to ensure you will practice nursing safely and competently
there are other issues with your application not specifically listed here