What are discipline hearings?

The Discipline Committee conducts a hearing when a Registered Nurse, Registered Practical Nurse or Nurse Practitioner has been referred by CNO’s Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee for alleged professional misconduct and/or incompetence.

A discipline hearing is a formal legal process. A panel of the committee hears evidence about a nurse’s practice and conduct. Both parties to a hearing may call witnesses, who have information that will assist the panel in making a decision, to testify at a hearing.

The panel then decides whether to dismiss the allegations or find that the nurse has committed professional misconduct or is incompetent. If the panel finds misconduct or incompetence, it will decide what order to make.

Hearings are open to the public

Discipline hearings are usually held virtually and members of the public can observe them on a private YouTube livestream. Please read our fact sheet about observing a discipline hearing on YouTube.

If you would like to observe an upcoming discipline hearing on YouTube, please email a request for the link to the Hearings Administration team at HearingsAdministrationGroup@cnomail.org. They will provide you with the link to observe the hearing, for your use only, as well as details about what to expect at a hearing and rules for observing. Recordings of hearings are not available.

Important information about observing a hearing

  • By law, you are not permitted to broadcast or record any part of the hearing using video, audio, still images or any other format. Broadcasting or recording a hearing without the Discipline Committee’s permission is an offence, and you could be charged a fine if you were convicted.
  • In hearings where certain sensitive matters are discussed, a Discipline Panel may order a publication ban or close the hearing to the public. If you share information that is protected by a publication ban, you could be charged with an offence and would have to pay a fine if you were convicted.
  • If you are a witness to be called in the hearing, there may be restrictions on whether you can view the hearing.
  • Hearing dates can change at any time. Check the schedule on this page for updated hearing information. Note that a hearing may start and then be adjourned on the scheduled hearing date.

Media-related questions should be submitted to CNO’s Communications team at media@cnomail.org.

Hearing Schedules