June 23, 2023

Chief Nursing Officer visits CNO

Discussion focused on health care leadership

The College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) welcomed Chief Nursing Officer of Canada Dr. Leigh Chapman to its offices on June 15.

“It was an honour to host Dr. Chapman and discuss shared priorities and the many ways CNO can play a leadership role advancing safe nursing practice,” said Silvie Crawford, CNO’s Executive Director and CEO.

The Chief Nursing Officer of Canada has a unique mandate to support and connect the nursing profession from coast to coast to coast—as a leader in healthcare regulation, CNO recognizes the power of collaboration on shared goals.

“Working together, we have an opportunity to further strengthen the health care system, nursing regulation and public safety,” added Crawford.

Chapman’s visit focused on areas of shared interest, national and provincial priorities as well as meeting with CNO’s leadership and staff that bring regulation to life.

“Nurse regulators play a critical and unique role in each province and territory in Canada,” said Chapman. “By connecting with other regulators and drawing on CNO's knowledge, I aim to collaborate with regulators to enhance patient safety across the country.”

She also emphasized the importance of collaboration in the current health system context and public demands. "Working together is crucial now more than ever," she said.

Discussion subjects between the health care leaders included:

  • the resolute commitment to public safety by promoting safe nursing practice
  • demonstrating how CNO data about the nursing profession in Ontario is widely available, to promote transparency and inform decision-making
  • advancing the labour mobility discussion while maintaining standards for patient safety
  • fostering regulatory best practices 
  • demonstrating CNO’s successes regulating all classes of nurses to the Chief Nursing Officer and other regulators

CNO and the Chief Nursing Office of Canada look forward to continued collaborative efforts in informing and impacting nursing regulation.  

“With shared values and a commitment to leadership in healthcare regulation, we look forward to working together to make a difference in public safety,” said Crawford.

About CNO

The College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) is the regulator of the nursing profession in Ontario. It is not a school or a nursing association. CNO acts in the public interest by:

  • assessing qualifications and registering individuals who want to practice nursing in Ontario.
  • setting the practice standards of the profession that nurses in Ontario are expected to meet.
  • promoting nurses' continuing competence through a quality assurance program.
  • holding nurses accountable to those standards by addressing complaints or reports about nursing care.

The College was founded in 1963. By establishing the College, the Ontario government was acknowledging that the nursing profession had the ability to govern itself and put the public's well-being ahead of professional interests.

For the latest information, please see our Nursing Statistics page.

Anyone who wants to use a nursing-related title — Registered Nurse (RN), Registered Practical Nurse (RPN) or Nurse Practitioner (NP) must become a member of CNO.

Frequently Asked Questions

Go to the public Register, Find a Nurse, to conduct a search for the nurse. Contact us if you can't find the person you are looking for.

All public information available about nurses is posted in the public Register, Find a Nurse, which contains profiles of every nurse in Ontario. Publicly available information about nurses include their registration history, business address, and information related to pending disciplinary hearings or past findings.

Unregistered practitioners are people who are seeking employment in nursing or holding themselves out as being able to practice nursing in Ontario, but who are not qualified to do so. They are not registered members of CNO. Only people registered with CNO can use nursing-related titles or perform certain procedures that could cause harm if carried out by a non-registered health professional. CNO takes the issue of unregistered practitioners seriously. See Unregistered Practitioners for more information.

To ensure procedural fairness for both the patient (or client) and the nurse, the Regulated Health Professions Act requires that information gathered during an investigation remain confidential until the matter is referred to the Discipline Committee or Fitness to Practise Committee. CNO will not disclose any information that could identify patients (or clients) or compromise an investigation. See Investigations: A Process Guide for more information.

Information obtained during an investigation will become public if the matter is referred to a disciplinary hearing. If a complaint is not referred to a hearing, no information will be available publicly.

See CNO's hearings schedule, which is updated as hearing dates are confirmed. Hearings at CNO are open to the public and the media. For details on how to attend a hearing, contact the Hearings Administration Team.

A summary of allegations and the disciplinary panel outcomes can be found on the public Register, Find a Nurse. Full decisions and reasons are also available.

Where a disciplinary panel makes a finding of professional misconduct, they have the authority to reprimand a nurse, and suspend or revoke a nurse's registration. Terms, conditions and limitations can also be imposed on a nurse's registration, which restricts their practice for a set period. Nurses can also be required to complete remedial activities, such as reviewing CNO documents and meeting with an expert, before returning to practice.

For detailed information see the Sexual Abuse Prevention section.

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