Council Elections results

Congratulations and welcome to the candidates elected to Council in 2025:

  • Clinton Baretto, NP, elected in the Central region
  • Geeta Grewal, RN, elected in the Central region
  • Doreen Bankole, RN, elected in the Central Eastern region
  • Jeanette Lane, NP, elected in the Central Eastern region
  • Terry Holland, RPN, acclaimed in the Central Eastern region
  • Wendy Cheuk, RN, elected in the Metropolitan Toronto region
  • Fred Kim, RN, elected in the Metropolitan Toronto region

These new members of Council will begin their terms in June 2025.

We are grateful to all the candidates who put their names forward for election, and for all the nurses who voted.

What's Council?

Council is CNO’s board of directors, and it’s comprised of nurses and members of the public. Council makes important decisions that shape the regulation of nursing and promote public safety. Together, Council and CNO have one purpose: to protect the public by promoting safe nursing practice. 

Is Council for me?

If you’re passionate about safe client care, then sitting on Council will be a personally and professionally rewarding experience. This is your opportunity to bring your perspective to a diverse group of nurses from all types of positions and settings and members of the public. It’s also a significant accountability.

What’s new this year?

In June 2024, Council approved competency-based elections. That means that CNO communicates what skills you need to have to effectively serve on Council, what attributes can add value to Council, and how you can share that with voters for consideration. This governance best practice can help candidates demonstrate the competencies and attributes they can bring if elected to serve on Council and informs voters to make decisions on who can best serve on Council. Please review this document so you can reflect on the attributes and competencies needed on Council.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) is also a core value at CNO. We welcome eligible candidates of all backgrounds to run for Council. Council members that reflect the diverse lived experiences and perspectives of the people of Ontario can help to provide additional insights into how CNO can promote the public interest. In the election process, candidates will be given the opportunity to voluntarily disclose to voters aspects of their identity, diversity and lived experiences.

The DEI and competency-based elections updates mean that the elections process has been changed since last year. Please see more in the election steps. 

Steps to run for council

This year, we’re holding elections for RNs, NPs in the Metropolitan Toronto electoral district, RNs, NPs in the Central electoral district, and RNs, NPs, and RPNs in the Central Eastern electoral districts. More information, including timelines and forms, will be made available in the fall to all nurses eligible to participate in the election.

To be eligible to run as a candidate, you must:

  • work in the electoral district holding an election this year, or if you are not employed in nursing, reside in that district
  • be registered with CNO in the General or Extended Class
  • submit a completed nomination form
  • complete the Council and Committee Code of Conduct Compliance form (We will provide this to you when we receive your nomination.)
  • Complete the self-assessment form and the candidate profile (We will provide you a link to this once we have received your Code of Conduct Compliance form).

You can also learn more about the electoral districts by reading Where are elections taking place this year?

Participating on Council requires you to devote time. If elected, in addition to serving on Council, you will be expected to serve on a statutory committee. You can expect to participate in meetings one to five days per month.

You will need to be able to review materials in an online portal (CNO will provide equipment and training) and to actively participate in remote meetings in a space that offers privacy and where you will not be interrupted. For more information, please watch our brief video series about Council and reflect on the questions to determine if it’s right for you.

We will send the nomination form to all nurses eligible to participate in the fall.

For the nomination form you will need two nominators who meet the following criteria:

  • registered in the same class as you (only RPNs can nominate RPNs, and only RNs and/or NPs can nominate RNs and/or NPs)
  • in the same electoral district as you
  • currently registered with CNO
  • not owing any outstanding fees to CNO

After submitting the nomination form, if you are eligible to run as a candidate, CNO will provide you with the Code of Conduct compliance form for Council and its Committees.

The compliance form asks you to review and confirm that you will uphold the Council and Committee Code of Conduct and that you meet the requirements regarding prohibited positions.

After you complete the compliance form, CNO will send eligible candidates a link. At this link, you can review the revised Council profile and complete a self-assessment form to reflect on your skills and attributes. The profile outlines all of the skills and attributes required on Council. Collectively, Council members will demonstrate the required skills. No single member is expected to bring all of these competencies to Council. Following the self-assessment, if you wish to continue in the process, you will be asked to respond to questions, and voluntarily share aspects of your identity and lived experiences. Candidate responses to the questions and information shared about your lived experiences will be shared with voters to help them make an informed choice.

Where are elections taking place this year?

This year, we’re holding elections in Metropolitan Toronto and Central electoral districts for RNs and NPs, and in the Central Eastern electoral district for RNs, NPs and RPNs.

Metropolitan Toronto

Composed of the municipality of metropolitan Toronto

  • Two RNs/NPs will be elected

Central

Composed of the County of Simcoe and the regional municipalities of Halton, Peel and York.

  • Two RNs/NPs will be elected

Central Eastern District

Composed of the counties of Frontenac, Hastings, Lanark, Northumberland, Peterborough, Prince Edward, Victoria and Haliburton, the united counties of Leeds and Grenville, Lennox and Addington, and the regional municipality of Durham.

  • Two RNs/NPs and one RPN will be elected. (Update: the available RPN position from the Central Eastern District is acclaimed; no vote is needed.)

How to find your electoral district

If you live and work in different districts, here’s how to find your electoral district.

 

How to vote

CNO’s uses an election provider, Big Pulse Online Voting, to administer the ballots. Big Pulse will send all eligible voters an email on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, with your link to vote and information about the candidates. They will also send reminder emails on Wednesday, Jan. 29, and Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025—look for any of these emails to submit your vote.

If you can’t find the email, be sure to check your junk/spam folder. If you need help, email elections@cnomail.org. Please include your registration number and your voting district in the email. 

The deadline to vote is 5 p.m. EST on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025.


What is the schedule?

Questions?

Send an email to elections@cnomail.org. Please include your name, registration number and electoral district.