March 08, 2018
March 2018

Meeting growing needs: Proposed fee changes

Last month, we invited you to give us feedback about proposed changes to fees that nurses and applicants pay to the College. The proposed fee increases relate to membership renewal, new applications, and the PN exam and exam cancellation fee. The increases would ensure the College can meet the expanding needs of today’s regulatory environment and maintain a sound financial position.

We appreciate the feedback we have received so far and would like to address the great questions you have raised. We are aware that fee increases are never a popular topic, and that the proposed increase to the membership renewal fee is a substantial change. Some of you were wondering what your membership fee pays for; why all nurses in Ontario pay the same membership fee; and why your fee doesn’t include professional liability protection. Find answers to these and other questions...

Last month, we invited you to give us feedback about proposed changes to fees that nurses and applicants pay to the College. We appreciate the feedback we have received so far and would like to address the great questions you have raised. 

The proposed fee increases relate to membership renewal, new applications, and the PN exam and exam cancellation fee. The increases would ensure the College can meet the expanding needs of today’s regulatory environment and maintain a sound financial position.

We are aware that fee increases are never a popular topic, and that the proposed increase to the membership renewal fee is a substantial change. Some of you were wondering what your membership fee pays for; why all nurses in Ontario pay the same membership fee; and why your fee doesn’t include professional liability protection. Find answers to these and other questions at www.cno.org/faq-fees.

Before the College’s Council decided to propose these fee increases, they considered a variety of ways to save costs. However, they found these would hinder our ability to effectively fulfil our legal accountabilities as Ontario’s regulator of the nursing profession. In turn, this would be a risk to the public.

Evolving and expanding

Over the past few years, our work at the College has evolved. Significant changes have increased the volume of work and service expectations from nurses, government, applicants, educators and the public. For instance, in 2017 we experienced a 93 per cent increase in the number of complaints and reports compared to two years before.

Also on the rise is the duration and volume of telephone calls we receive about applications, complaints, reports and general inquiries. This has resulted in long wait times when you try to reach the College by telephone. To address this, we are overhauling our telecommunications system. We are also in the process of automating our business processes so we can provide you with more efficient service in the future.

We welcome your feedback on the proposed fee changes. Comment at www.cno.org/proposed-changes-to-fees. The deadline is Friday, June 1, 2018. Council will review all feedback before it makes a final decision in June.

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.

Related links