April 29, 2025

CNO Council approves by-law changes to strengthen governance and committee roles

At their March meeting, CNO Council approved updates to its by-laws to reflect changes about Council committees.

A close up of chairs in a conference room.

At their March meeting, CNO Council approved updates to its by-laws to reflect changes about Council committees. These updates, including revisions to the Conduct Committee and the creation of separate Executive, Governance and Patient Relations Committees, will take effect on June 4, 2025. Here's what you need to know.

Key changes

  1. Committee chair updates: By-law changes redefine the appointment process for committee chairs, ensuring alignment with current governance standards. 
  2. Governance Committee: A new addition to the by-law formally establishes the Governance Committee as a standing committee (separate from the Executive Committee). This committee will advise on governance policies and practices, ensuring Council operations align with best practices and regulatory trends. It further supports transparency and accountability in decision-making processes.
  3. Patient Relations Committee: Updates clarify the roles and responsibilities of the Patient Relations Committee and its Chair, as outlined in the Terms of Reference.
  4. Conduct Committee: Updates reflect the enhanced process for managing breaches as outlined in the Council and Committee Code of Conduct. If a breach occurs, the committee would focus on promoting informal resolutions, overseeing investigations and offering recommendations to the Council when necessary. These revisions align with the new Conduct Committee process and roles approved by Council last September and the new Conduct Committee Terms of Reference.

Why these changes matter

Council by-laws provide a framework for governance and operations, outlining the structure, responsibilities and procedures to ensure consistency, transparency and accountability in decision-making. The latest revisions reflect Council's commitment to strengthening governance and enhancing patient-centred practices. 

Stay tuned for more updates as these changes take shape! Any questions? Contact CNO’s Governance Team.

About CNO

The College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) is the regulator of the nursing profession in Ontario. It is not a school or a nursing association. CNO acts in the public interest by:

  • assessing qualifications and registering individuals who want to practice nursing in Ontario.
  • setting the practice standards of the profession that nurses in Ontario are expected to meet.
  • promoting nurses' continuing competence through a quality assurance program.
  • holding nurses accountable to those standards by addressing complaints or reports about nursing care.

The College was founded in 1963. By establishing the College, the Ontario government was acknowledging that the nursing profession had the ability to govern itself and put the public's well-being ahead of professional interests.

For the latest information, please see our Nursing Statistics page.

Anyone who wants to use a nursing-related title — Registered Nurse (RN), Registered Practical Nurse (RPN) or Nurse Practitioner (NP) must become a member of CNO.

Frequently Asked Questions

Go to the public Register, Find a Nurse, to conduct a search for the nurse. Contact us if you can't find the person you are looking for.

All public information available about nurses is posted in the public Register, Find a Nurse, which contains profiles of every nurse in Ontario. Publicly available information about nurses include their registration history, business address, and information related to pending disciplinary hearings or past findings.

Unregistered practitioners are people who are seeking employment in nursing or holding themselves out as being able to practice nursing in Ontario, but who are not qualified to do so. They are not registered members of CNO. Only people registered with CNO can use nursing-related titles or perform certain procedures that could cause harm if carried out by a non-registered health professional. CNO takes the issue of unregistered practitioners seriously. See Unregistered Practitioners for more information.

To ensure procedural fairness for both the patient (or client) and the nurse, the Regulated Health Professions Act requires that information gathered during an investigation remain confidential until the matter is referred to the Discipline Committee or Fitness to Practise Committee. CNO will not disclose any information that could identify patients (or clients) or compromise an investigation. See Investigations: A Process Guide for more information.

Information obtained during an investigation will become public if the matter is referred to a disciplinary hearing. If a complaint is not referred to a hearing, no information will be available publicly.

See CNO's hearings schedule, which is updated as hearing dates are confirmed. Hearings at CNO are open to the public and the media. For details on how to attend a hearing, contact the Hearings Administration Team.

A summary of allegations and the disciplinary panel outcomes can be found on the public Register, Find a Nurse. Full decisions and reasons are also available.

Where a disciplinary panel makes a finding of professional misconduct, they have the authority to reprimand a nurse, and suspend or revoke a nurse's registration. Terms, conditions and limitations can also be imposed on a nurse's registration, which restricts their practice for a set period. Nurses can also be required to complete remedial activities, such as reviewing CNO documents and meeting with an expert, before returning to practice.

For detailed information see the Sexual Abuse Prevention section.

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