What is interjurisdictional nurse licensure?
Nurses must be registered in a Canadian jurisdiction (province or territory) to practice there. Interjurisdictional nurse licensure (INL) is a national initiative to help nurses maintain registration in more than one Canadian jurisdiction.
INL allows nurses to practice and support health care systems in multiple Canadian jurisdictions. INL makes the nursing profession more mobile by streamlining the regulatory requirements when nurses are registered to practice in multiple jurisdictions. It helps nurses to work across Canadian provincial and territorial borders, while maintaining the high standard of safe and competent nursing practice.
Nurses must be living physically in Canada to be considered an INL registrant.
How does INL work?
Under INL, you have an equivalent registration in two or more Canadian jurisdictions: your “home” and “host” jurisdictions.
Your home jurisdiction is the Canadian jurisdiction in which you physically reside (where you pay income tax) and in which you are registered to practice nursing in the category you want to use for INL. If you don’t have a home jurisdiction under this definition, your home jurisdiction is the Canadian jurisdiction in which you are registered to practice in the category you want to use for INL, and in which you practice most often.
A host jurisdiction is any Canadian jurisdiction where you are registered to practice in the category you want to use for INL in addition to your home jurisdiction.
Under INL, you can practice in both jurisdictions in the equivalent registration class or category. For example, if you are a practicing RN in your home jurisdiction, you can apply to practice as an RN in your host jurisdiction(s) under INL.
What are the benefits?
- You need to complete the quality assurance (QA) requirements only in your home jurisdiction. (Learn about the exceptions to this in the FAQs section.) If you comply with your home jurisdiction’s QA requirements, CNO will consider you compliant with our QA requirements.
- CNO will provide a 25% rebate on your annual fee when you initially register, renew or reinstate with CNO as your host jurisdiction.
How do I apply to CNO to be an INL registrant?
You must apply to CNO the same way as any other applicant. You start by creating an online application with CNO as a Registered Nurse (RN) or Registered Practical Nurse (RPN) in the General Class, or as a Registered Nurse (RN) in the Extended Class (for example, a Nurse Practitioner). Refer to our Registration Guide: Canada (registered outside Ontario) for detailed instructions on how complete your application.
Once you have met all the requirements and paid your application fee, you become eligible for registration and complete the final steps to register. At that point, CNO will review your application to confirm that you:
- have an active and current equivalent nursing registration in another Canadian jurisdiction and
- continue to reside in that same province/territory or elsewhere in Canada.
If you meet these criteria, you are automatically eligible as an INL registrant with CNO as your host jurisdiction. You don’t have to do anything else. You will be offered the 25% annual fee rebate when you pay to initially register with CNO.
Once you are registered with CNO, you will receive a message through the online portal explaining that you are an INL registrant. The message will also include information about your Quality Assurance requirements.
Are all Canadian jurisdictions involved in INL?
Yes, but implementation will look different for each jurisdiction, in accordance with law, policies and programs specific to each province or territory. Each regulator will implement INL when they are prepared and when it is reasonably practical for them.