March 21, 2024

CNO releases Temporary Class and Reinstatement Evaluation Report

The College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) has released its one-year Temporary Class and Reinstatement evaluation report, providing valuable insights into the impact of these regulatory changes.

A magnifying glass.

The College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) has released its one-year Temporary Class and Reinstatement evaluation report, providing valuable insights into the impact of these regulatory changes. This comprehensive report, available to the public, sheds light on the outcomes of CNO’s efforts to expand eligibility for applicants in the Temporary Class and facilitate the reinstatement of former registrants.

In October 2022, CNO introduced regulatory changes with the goal of bolstering health human resources in the Ontario health care system. The focus remained on evidence-informed decision-making in the public interest.  The report, covering the period from Nov. 1, 2022 – Nov. 1, 2023, offers a detailed analysis of the changes’ effects on health human resources, applicants and registrants, as well as employers.

Key findings include a 47% increase in eligible applicants for the Temporary Class, amounting to 8,048 individuals eligible. There was a 31% uptick in Temporary Class registrations relative to the previous year (a total of 2,353) and an increase in reinstatements, 13%, year-over-year.  A closer examination of the factors influencing these trends is included in the report.

The changes to the Temporary Class and Reinstatement are part of a broader CNO initiative to modernize its applicant processes to create efficiencies in registration, especially for internationally educated applicants.

For a deeper understanding of the report’s findings, the public is encouraged to access the full document on CNO.org. As the authoritative sources for nursing statistics, CNO remains committed to transparency and providing accurate information to the public.

Visit Registrant Statistics for more information about nurses currently registered with CNO. 

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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