Tell us what you think: Changes to the education registration requirements

The College of Nurse of Ontario (CNO) protects the public by promoting safe nursing practice. This includes implementing regulation changes to ensure those entering the profession can provide safe and competent patient care. 

We are seeking your feedback on proposed changes to regulations under the Nursing Act, 1991 that amend the education registration requirements. These amendments align with CNO’s strategic plan outcome to support our registration processes being evidence-informed, fair, inclusive, and effective. They also help further increase health human resources in Ontario. 

The proposed amendments to regulations include: 

• Removing Ontario education equivalency for registration in the General Class for both Registered Nurse and Registered Practical Nurse applicants. This is replaced with a new regulation that accepts relevant nursing education recognized or approved in any jurisdiction

• Adding a new regulation that requires applicants to successfully complete a course approved by CNO’s Council that supports successful integration into the health care system in Canada 

The education requirement is one of eight registration requirements that must be met to support ensuring those entering the profession can provide safe and competent patient care. Other requirements include passing a registration exam, having proficiency in English or French and recent nursing practice as a few examples.

You can read details of the proposed regulation changes on our public consultation page. All stakeholders including nurses are welcome to provide feedback about these proposed changes. To do so, the deadline to comment is Monday, November 27, 2023. 

Go to public consultation page