November 08, 2017
May 2018

Get the score on nursing exams

Curious about how many applicants to the College passed their registration exam in 2017? Find answers in our new report about nursing exams.

Curious about how many applicants to the College passed their registration exam in 2017? Find answers in our new report about nursing exams.

The report shows the pass rates for applicants who wrote one of the College-approved national registration exams, as part of the registration process for becoming a nurse in Ontario. The exams for RNs (NCLEX-RN) and RPNs (CPNRE) test competencies that nurses need to begin their nursing careers in Ontario. They help ensure that new nurses in Ontario are prepared to practise nursing safely.

In 2017, approximately 12,000 applicants to the College wrote either the NCLEX-RN or CPNRE at least once. Of all RN applicants who wrote the NCLEX-RN, 76 per cent passed on their first attempt. The pass rate for applicants educated in Ontario was 80 per cent. Of the RPN applicants who wrote the CPNRE, 86 per cent passed on their first attempt. The pass rate for applicants educated in Ontario was 92 per cent.

You can find more information about the pass rates for these and other exams, as well as a breakdown of pass rates by Ontario nursing education program, and of applicants educated elsewhere in Canada and internationally, in our Nursing Registration Exams Report.

The College publishes annual statistics reports to provide data about the nurses we register. Find out more about our statistical resources and sign up for announcements at: www.cno.org/stats.

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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