March 10, 2023

New Jurisprudence Exam launching this summer

Starting Monday, July 17, 2023, those applying for registration in the General or Extended class will have to pass a new Jurisprudence Exam.

The College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) protects the public through the promotion of safe nursing practice, including establishing province-wide registration requirements. Starting Monday, July 17, 2023, those applying for registration in the General or Extended class will have to pass a new Jurisprudence Exam.

The new exam, which was approved by Council on March 8, 2023, assesses applicants’ knowledge and understanding of the professional, legal and ethical accountabilities associated with providing safe nursing care in Ontario. It was created with evidence and collaboration with subject matter experts and consists of online learning modules and testing components designed to support learners. The exam will cover five chapters, focusing on: nursing regulation, scope of practice, professional responsibility and accountability, CNO Practice Standards, Quality Assurance and continuing competence.

“Understanding how the law impacts nursing practice contributes to the delivery of safe, ethical nursing care. With an influx of applicants wanting to practice nursing in Ontario, it is especially important that nurses entering the profession are aware and understand how nursing practice is governed in Ontario,” says Naomi Thick, CNO Council President. “CNO’s new jurisprudence exam meets our mandate to protect the public by ensuring that applicants entering the profession are competent and safe to practice nursing in Ontario.

The Nursing Act, 1991 requires all applicants to successfully complete a nursing jurisprudence exam prior to receiving a certificate of registration. It is one of eight entry- to-practice requirements applicants must meet to become a nurse in Ontario. Current registrants are not required to take the exam unless they are applying to change their category or class.

“Nurses are accountable to understand the laws that regulate the profession,” says Silvie Crawford, CNO Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer. “CNO’s Jurisprudence Exam prepares applicants for the environment in which they will be working, and ensures they are safe and competent to practice in Ontario.”

The new Jurisprudence Exam takes effect on Monday, July 17, 2023.

For more information about the new exam, visit our Jurisprudence Exam page. You can also follow the latest updates from CNO by following The Standard, and our social media channels including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

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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