Applicant Statistics
The College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) is committed to publicly sharing application and registration data.
The following page contains statistics about the number of applicants currently seeking CNO registration. All applicants who have an active application, who do not currently hold any CNO registration and are residing in Ontario are in the table presented below. These statistics represent the number of new nurses most likely to be immediately available to the system upon registration.
For more data related to our new registrants, see our Registrant Statistics.
Active Applicants Without Current CNO Registration Residing in Ontario
The following table shows the number of active applicants to the RPN General, RN General and RN Extended classes residing in Ontario without current CNO registration by Application Type, as of
May 1, 2024.
| Application Type | |||
| Ontario | Canadian | International | Total Applicants |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5,351 | 344 | 7,418 | 13,113 |
Changes to Process
CNO has implemented changes to the application process, to facilitate the registration of applicants. The Supervised Practice Experience Partnership (SPEP), a program designed to match international applicants with Ontario nursing employers to help them meet registration requirements, and regulation changes approved by the Ontario government related to the Temporary Class and reinstatement process were put in place to increase the number of qualified nurses available to provide safe patient care in the province.
Supervised Practice Experience Partnership (SPEP) Statistics
| Total Eligible Applicants | 4,264 |
|---|---|
| Total Applicants Applied | 4,077 |
| SPEP Completed: Total Nurses Registered | 2,696 |
Temporary Class Registration
The regulation amendments to the Temporary Class change the eligibility requirements for applicants to register in the Temporary Class. To be eligible applicants must:
- meet all requirements for registration in the General Class, except for the education and registration exam requirements
- have completed a nursing education program approved or recognized in any jurisdiction
Nurses can continue to hold their Temporary Class registration if they fail the registration exam once. If they fail a second time, their registration will expire.
In addition to being eligible, applicants must still have an offer of employment from an approved Ontario nursing employer.
The following table shows the total number of applicants, without any other CNO registration, who have met all requirements except the offer of employment for the Temporary Class and the number who registered in the Temporary Class, by Application Type, since the regulation changes came into effect on November 1, 2022. They represent new nurses added to the system.
The data cover the period from November 1, 2022 to May 1, 2024.
| Application Type | ||||
| Applicant | Ontario | Canadian | International | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eligible for Temporary Class | 7,356 | 134 | 3,092 | 10,582 |
| Registered in Temporary Class | 2,491 | 21 | 454 | 2,966 |
For more data related to Temporary Class registrants, see our Registrant Statistics.
Reinstatements
The regulation changes also make it easier for nurses in the Non-Practising Class and nurses who no longer hold registration to reinstate and return to practice by providing CNO’s Executive Director the discretion to reinstate registrants who have not practiced within three years. The following table shows the number of nurses who reinstated their General or Extended Class registration, without any other CNO registration at that time, since the regulation changes came into effect on November 1, 2022.
The data cover the period from November 1, 2022 to May 1, 2024.
| Total | |
|---|---|
| Number of Reinstatements | 1,239 |
