Council Elections

What's Council?

Council is CNO’s board of directors, and it’s comprised of nurses and members of the public. Together, they have one goal: to protect the public. Council makes important decisions that shape the regulation of nursing and promote public safety. 

Is Council for me?

If you’re passionate about patient care, then sitting on Council will be a personally and professionally rewarding experience. It’s also a significant accountability.

Begin your application process

Step 1: Verify you’re eligible to participate in this year’s election
To be eligible to run as a candidate, you must:

• be a current member of CNO (in the General or Extended (NP) Class)
• complete a conflict of interest form. (We will provide this to you when we receive your nomination.)
• live or work in the electoral district holding an election this year.

This year, we’re holding elections in the Southwestern and Central Western districts for RNs (including NPs) and RPNs, as well as in the Central Toronto district for RPNs. If you are eligible to participate in this election, check your email inbox — we contacted you on Friday, Oct. 23, 2020.

You can also learn more about the electoral districts by reading WHERE ARE ELECTIONS TAKING PLACE THIS YEAR?

The following disqualifies you from running for Council:

• any terms, conditions, or limitations on your registration with CNO
• any revocation or suspension of your registration within the last six years, for any reason other than non-payment of fees
• any professional misconduct, incompetence or incapacity findings in the past three years
• being referred to the Discipline or Fitness to Practise committees
• being disqualified by Council from serving on Council or a committee in the last three years

Step 3: Review the board profile and reflect on your own skills and attributes 
To see if you have what it takes, review our list of career knowledge and experience, functional skills, and our affinity and character attributes. No one person will have them all, but you should be able to identify and articulate which skills and attributes from the list you will bring to Council.

Step 4: Reflect on your availability 
Participating on Council requires you to devote time. If elected, in addition to serving on Council, you will be expected to serve on a statutory committee. You can expect to participate in meetings 1-3 days per month.

You will need to be able to review materials in an online portal (CNO will provide equipment and training) and to actively participate in Zoom meetings in a space that offers privacy and where you will not be interrupted.

If you are passionate about patient safety and quality nursing care, this could be your opportunity to make a difference.

Step 5: Complete your nomination form

Download and complete your candidate nomination form.

An important part of completing your nomination process is getting the signatures of two nominators. Your nominators must be:

• registered in the same class as you (only RPNs can nominate RPNs, and only RNs and/or NPs can nominate RNs and/or NPs)
• in the same electoral district as you
• currently registered with CNO and not in default of payment of any fees 

The deadline to submit your candidate nomination form is midnight on Friday, Nov. 27, 2020. Email the completed form to elections@cnomail.org.  

 Where are elections taking place this year?

This year, we’re holding elections in the Southwestern and Central Western districts for RNs (including NPs) and RPNs, as well as in the Central Toronto district for RPNs.

Electoral District 1: Southwestern 
Composed of the counties of Elgin, Essex, Huron, Kent, Lambton, Middlesex, Oxford and Perth.

• 2 RNs or NPs and 1 RPN will be elected

Electoral District 2: Central Western 
Composed of the counties of Brant, Bruce, Grey, Wellington and Dufferin and the regional municipalities of Haldimand-Norfolk, Hamilton-Wentworth, Niagara and Waterloo.

• 2 RNs or NPs and 1 RPN will be elected

Electoral District 9: Central/Toronto 
Composed of the municipality of metropolitan Toronto, the County of Simcoe and the regional municipalities of Halton, Peel and York.

• 1 RPN will be elected

If you live and work in different districts, here’s how to find your electoral district.

What is the schedule for the election?

Page last reviewed October 23, 2020