March 30, 2022

Passing the torch at CNO

One era has given way to another at CNO, while the patient safety mandate endures. Anne Coghlan, the Executive Director and CEO of the College of Nurses of Ontario, will retire from the role as of Thursday, March 31, 2022. As the leader of CNO for 21 years she leaves behind a legacy of promoting safe nursing practice and upholding patient safety.

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One era has given way to another at CNO, while the patient safety mandate endures. Anne Coghlan, the Executive Director and CEO of the College of Nurses of Ontario, will retire from the role as of Thursday, March 31, 2022. As the leader of CNO for 21 years she leaves behind a legacy of promoting safe nursing practice and upholding patient safety.

“While I’m going to miss the people that I have had the great privilege to work with, Council and staff, I know that CNO is on an exciting path,” Coghlan said in remarks at her final Council meeting on March 3, 2022. She added that it’s “a path guided by a bold vision, strong governance and a CNO team that is second to none,” with every CNO member remaining committed to supporting patient safety in all aspects of their work.

At the same meeting, CNO announced that Carol Timmings, Chief Quality Officer (CQO), will succeed Coghlan on an interim basis as the Acting Executive Director and CEO. Timmings, an RN, has been CQO for the past two years.

She brings her deep knowledge of nursing and a strong commitment to CNO’s purpose as she steps into the position. Among other roles, Timmings was previously the Chief Nursing Officer for Toronto Public Health.

“It is an honour and privilege to serve in this role,” she said, noting the leadership example set by Coghlan over the previous two decades leaves a rich legacy upon which to build. “It’s a significant responsibility to protect and promote public safety. I look forward to assuming this role as Acting Executive Director and CEO, with the knowledge that the entire CNO team is dedicated to our public interest mandate.”

Watch The Standard for updates about a permanent Executive Director and CEO.

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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