August 11, 2022

Identifying barriers for internationally educated applicants

The College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) has launched a survey of 3,344 internationally educated applicants to identify any barriers they may face related to writing their registration exam to become a nurse.

Toronto, Ont. Aug. 11, 2022 – The College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) has launched a survey of 3,344 internationally educated applicants to identify any barriers they may face related to writing their registration exam to become a nurse.  

Recent CNO data show there is a group of applicants who is eligible to write the registration exam but hasn’t yet done so. Completing the exam is needed to register as a nurse in Ontario. 

“It is critical that we understand the reasons why this many applicants are not availing themselves of the opportunity to take the exam and finalize their full nursing registration with CNO,” says Carol Timmings, acting Executive Director and CEO. “These findings will allow us to identify potential enablers and barriers for internationally educated applicants in completing their individual accountability in the registration process.” 

We have sent an email to all exam eligible applicants. Responses from the survey will provide CNO with the information we need to work with our partners in the health care system to break down the barriers some applicants face.  

“There may be a number of areas where applicants are in need of additional support,” says Timmings. “It is our intent to share these insights with government, in the event that any of the potential barriers identified are amenable to a system wide solution.”  

The survey responses are confidential and will not affect the applicant's application in any way. CNO will only report on the combined data.  

CNO is working relentlessly to innovate its registration processes to safely register as many qualified nurses as possible. Earlier this year, CNO launched the Supervised Practice Education Partnership, which has helped us break records for the number of internationally educated nurses we are registering. Next week, CNO will launch a new initiative in collaboration with several colleges and universities to support educational opportunities for internationally educated applicants.  

“We are committed to working with the Ontario government and all our system partners to find solutions so the people of this province can continue to receive safe nursing care — even during a time of crisis,” says Timmings.   

Visit CNO’s Examination web page for more information on registration examinations. 

Contact: 

Bradley Hammond 
Manager, Communications 
647 988 6064 
media@cnomail.org

 

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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