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November 20, 2024

Registration changes enhance process for applicants

The Ontario government has approved updated education requirements

CNO’s icons for the Education and Transition to Practice registration requirements.

The Ontario government has approved updated education requirements for nursing registration. The changes, which will take effect on Tuesday, April 1, 2025, will enhance the way CNO registers applicants, and provide supports for internationally educated applicants to become registered in a timely way.

The new education requirement offers an applicant pathway that supports Ontario’s growing health care needs, while ensuring nurses have the knowledge, skill and judgment to practice safely.

As part of CNO’s registration process, applicants to Ontario must show evidence of completing a nursing program designed to prepare them for becoming an RN or RPN. CNO assesses all applicants’ nursing education to ensure they hold the required credentials.

In April, CNO will accept relevant nursing education from any jurisdiction (Ontario, Canada or international), if it meets the regulation’s requirements.

“These changes are designed carefully to maintain the highest standards of patient safety,” said Silvie Crawford, RN, CNO’s Registrar/Executive Director and CEO. “They reflect CNO’s commitment to ensuring application processes are fair and inclusive, and contribute to supporting safe nursing care in Ontario.”

Benefits, support for IENs

The changes are particularly significant for internationally educated applicants, since it means many will now meet the education requirement based on their validated foundational nursing education.

Also coming in April is a new requirement to support applicants’ successful integration into the Canadian health care system. Called Transition to Practice (TTP), it covers 31 critical safety competencies to ensure applicants are aware of their accountabilities that are crucial to patient safety as they enter practice in Ontario.

The TTP requirement is another way CNO prepares and supports nurses to provide safe care. CNO offers many resources for nurses including webinars on relevant topics, and “Ask Practice” questions and answers on cno.org. Nurses with questions about a practice activity or scope of practice can contact CNO’s Practice Support at any time. As well, TTP is a companion to another registration requirement, the jurisprudence exam.

CNO developed the TTP requirement by examining common challenges new nurses face in practice settings. These include adjusting to the level of autonomy expected in the practice setting and understanding the patient’s right to make informed decisions about their treatments.

“Nursing accountabilities can vary across jurisdictions. The TTP requirement helps bridge the gap in nursing practices and supports a nurse’s integration into the Ontario practice setting,” Crawford said.

The new requirement applies to all nursing applicants. Many will meet the requirement through their already existing education or registration. Internationally educated applicants will meet the requirement by completing TTP.

Through CNO’s work modernizing applicant assessment processes, we understand the challenges IENs face in the practice setting when they start practice in Ontario. The new requirement supports this transition, focusing on competencies and patient safety. The TTP requirement will benefit internationally educated nurses because it supports safe practice and offers a smoother transition to nursing in Ontario.

“Meeting this requirement supports aspiring nurses in their practice, while upholding CNO’s commitment to public safety. It will equip applicants with the specialized knowledge they need to ensure they understand the responsibilities and expectations of nursing within Ontario’s unique health care environment,” added Crawford. “Applicants showing the needed nursing knowledge, skill and judgment to practice safely will contribute to Ontario’s health care system and enrich our workforce.”

See more about the education requirement and the Transition to Practice requirement.


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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