July 23, 2024

Moving toward a single classification of Nurse Practitioner (NP)

The collaborative effort will reduce unnecessary barriers to labour mobility.

CNO, the Canadian Council of Registered Nurse Regulators (CCRNR) and other system partners are collaborating toward the common goal of ensuring Nurse Practitioner (NP) regulation protects the public and improves health care outcomes for patient populations across the country.

Currently, there are three specialty certificates for NPs in Ontario: Primary Health Care, Adult and Pediatric. CNO is actively working with system partners to change this to a single NP classification, so NPs, employers and government have the flexibility to deliver innovative and accessible health services across patient populations. The proposed national framework will continue to keep safe nursing practice front and centre while allowing us to respond to the evolving needs of the health care system.

“One of the key opportunities for action to support nursing and health care in Ontario is the type of system-wide collaboration that builds nursing capacity and enables positive change in the health and patient care environments,” says Registrar/Executive Director and CEO, Silvie Crawford. “A single NP classification will reduce unnecessary barriers to labour mobility by ensuring consistency in entry-level regulatory requirements and collaboration among system partners. With the new model, all new NPs will be prepared to practice across patient populations and practice settings, with opportunities to pursue a specialization after entering practice.”

All Canadian jurisdictions (except for Quebec) are involved in creating this national framework and currently the focus of CCRNR’s NP Regulation Framework Implementation Plan Project is on implementing this new framework. The multi-year project depends on factors such as unique jurisdictional implementation plans, regulation changes, curriculum changes and education program approval.

Since our last communication about this project in January 2024, we’ve made great progress.

Practice analysis validation survey

In March 2024, NPs across Canada participated in CCRNR’s NP practice analysis validation survey. The survey outlined the attributes and tasks performed by NPs, which will inform how NPs are tested at entry-to-practice, including the focus and weighting of exam questions. More than 700 Ontario NPs filled out the survey, which accounts for approximately 63% of the total number of responses. The CCRNR is analyzing the survey results and more detailed information will be released in the coming months. We are grateful for the strong engagement from Ontario’s NPs. Your feedback will help to inform the development of a new, national NP entry-to-practice exam.

June 2024 CNO Council meeting

On June 6, 2024, CNO’s Council endorsed the continued work on the NP Regulation Framework Implementation Plan Project as we move toward using this national model. Next steps include bringing forward draft NP regulation amendments to CNO’s Council.

Ontario universities to start offering nursing education programs based on revised entry-level competencies

Starting this September, Ontario universities will ramp down NP entry-level specialty education programs and begin offering programs that address NP practice across patient populations and practice settings. CNO is working closely with academic institutions to facilitate starting to use the revised NP entry-level competencies (ELCs)—which were endorsed by Council in December 2022—in nursing education programs.

Want more information?

We appreciate that current and future NPs, employers, the public and other system partners may have questions about what the national framework could mean for registration and practice. CNO remains committed to providing information about the impact of this work as soon as it’s available, which is why we recently launched A single classification of Nurse Practitioners (NPs) and A single classification of Nurse Practitioners (NPs): FAQS. Keep monitoring these webpages. We will update them on an ongoing basis as new information becomes available.

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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