May 01, 2024
November 2018

Be a voice for patients

Do you understand how your actions affect patient safety? Do you have experience advocating for patients’ rights? Are you critical thinker who can communicate clearly? If this sounds like you, consider volunteering for one of our committees. It’s your opportunity to be a voice for Ontarians.

The application period is open now until Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018.

Do you understand how your actions affect patient safety? Do you have experience advocating for patients’ rights? Are you a critical thinker who can communicate clearly? If this sounds like you, consider volunteering for one of our committees. It’s your opportunity to be a voice for Ontarians. The application period is open now until Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018.

In 2019, we will need NPs, RNs and RPNs to join our Discipline and Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committees. As well, we will need NPs and RNs to sit on our Fitness to Practise and Quality Assurance Committees.

If you’re considering volunteering, go to our Committee page first to understand the work these committees do, as well as the skills and attributes we’re looking for in candidates.

We’ve created an educational video to help you learn more about committee work. Watch the video to help you decide if your unique knowledge, skills and experience are right for the job. If you think you might be a fit, begin the application process.

Visit our Committee page to learn more.

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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