August 29, 2019
November 2021

Make a difference: Join a committee or Council

Nurses from all practice areas sit on our committees or CNO’s Council (our board) — and you could be one of them. Deadlines are approaching this month for applying to join a committee or running for election to CNO Council.

CNO has five committees that contribute to regulatory processes that protect patients: Discipline and Fitness to Practise; Inquiries, Complaints and Reports; Quality Assurance; and Registration...

 

Nurses from all practice areas sit on our committees or CNO’s Council (our board) — and you could be one of them. Deadlines are approaching this month for applying to join a committee or running for election to CNO Council.

CNO’s committees

CNO has five committees that contribute to regulatory processes that protect patients: Discipline and Fitness to Practise; Inquiries, Complaints and Reports; Quality Assurance; and Registration. Nurses who serve on these committees use their knowledge of CNO’s practice standards along with their unique perspectives to make objective and evidence-informed decisions that contribute to safe nursing practice in these specific areas. You can learn more about the work each committee does on our Committees page.

Current committee members say that participating in a committee is both challenging and rewarding, and an opportunity to impact patient care. “It is an excellent opportunity to support public safety,” says Priscilla Ankamah, RN, a member of the Registration Committee. “You gain a profound understanding of the legislative and regulatory laws that govern the profession and develop a deeper appreciation for CNO and its processes.”

The deadline to submit your application to serve on a committee is midnight on Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021. Learn more about what’s involved and how to apply.

CNO’s Council

CNO’s Council (our board of directors) is comprised of both nurses and members of the public. Council provides oversight, insight and foresight into CNO’s strategic direction, and Council members make important decisions that shape nursing regulation and promote public safety. If you’re passionate about patient care, then sitting on Council will be a personally and professionally rewarding experience.

This year, we’re holding elections in the Metro Toronto and Central districts for RNs (including NPs), and in the Central Eastern district for RNs (including NPs) and RPNs. If you are eligible to participate in this election, check your email inbox — we contacted you on Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021.

You can learn more about running for election to Council on our Council Elections page. If you’re considering applying, don’t delay — the nomination period closes at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 15, 2021.

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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