Recent graduates of NP programs outside Ontario who are not currently registered to practice as an NP elsewhere in Canada

All applicants to the Extended Class must take the NP registration examination approved by Council for the requested NP specialty certificate as either Primary Health Care, Adult or Paediatric.

After CNO has established your eligibility to write your NP registration examination, you will receive a message through the online portal.

Nurse practitioners registered to practice in other Canadian jurisdictions

NPs currently registered to practice in another Canadian jurisdiction who wish to practice in Ontario are not required to write a registration examination to register with CNO. Please refer to this section of the registration guide for more detail.

Jurisprudence examination

In addition to a registration exam, all NP applicants must successfully complete a separate jurisprudence examination. This exam is designed to evaluate each applicant’s knowledge and understanding of the laws, regulations, and CNO by-laws, practice standards and guidelines that govern the nursing profession in Ontario. The RN(EC) Jurisprudence Examination includes questions applicable to all nurses in addition to questions that are unique to NP practice.

The examination is completed online and can be accessed at any time by applicants. Once you have submitted your online application and fee, you will receive information about how to access the secure testing site.

You must provide an email address to CNO to receive information about your jurisprudence exam. This email address must be unique to you (i.e., it cannot be a shared address with other applicants to the CNO).

Visit our Examinations  section for more about the registration and jurisprudence exams, including fees, refund policies and special accommodation requests.