If you are an internationally educated nurse planning to work in Ontario, there is a good chance the first advice you were given was to open an NNAS application. Check before you pay.
The short version. Ontario does not work through NNAS any more. The College of Nurses of Ontario names three approved credential assessment services — WES, ICAS and ICES — and NNAS is not one of them, with one narrow exception covered below.
It is an easy mistake to make. Most of the guides that rank highest for “how to become a nurse in Canada” still describe NNAS as step one, and for several provinces they are right. For Ontario, they are out of date — and an NNAS application is not a small thing to get wrong. NNAS lists its main application fee in the hundreds of dollars, before any translation fees, and the assessment depends on documents arriving from your original school, so it is not quick either.
Here is what CNO actually asks for.
What changed on 1 April 2025
CNO brought in a new set of registration requirements. Four of them matter to you:
- CNO now accepts nursing education recognised or approved in any jurisdiction, as long as it meets the credential required for the class you are applying to — a baccalaureate for Registered Nurse, a diploma for Registered Practical Nurse.
- There is a new Transition to Practice requirement, so that everyone registering has been introduced to how nursing is practised in Canada.
- Applicants can use one of several approved credential assessment providers, rather than a single mandatory route.
- Everyone pays the same application fee, wherever they were educated.
That third point is the one that catches people out.
Who CNO accepts a credential assessment from
CNO names three approved educational credential assessment services:
- World Education Services (WES)
- International Credential Assessment Service of Canada (ICAS)
- International Credential Evaluation Service (ICES), at BCIT
These are general credential assessment services, used by applicants across many professions rather than nurses alone. Their job is narrow: confirm that the qualification you say you hold is the qualification you actually hold. Compare their current fees and processing times yourself before you choose one, because both move.
The real change. CNO now does the nursing part of the assessment itself. The judgement about whether your nursing education is equivalent to an Ontario programme sits with the regulator, not with a third-party service.
Where NNAS still fits in Ontario
There is one exception, and it is narrow. CNO says it will continue to accept NNAS expedited reports — the ones prepared by CGFNS, now called TruMerit. If you already hold one of those, it counts.
A standard NNAS Advisory Report is a different product, and it is not on CNO’s list.
If you are partway through a standard NNAS application and Ontario is your destination, stop and confirm with CNO directly before you spend anything more on it. If you have already finished one, it is not necessarily wasted — but find out where you stand before you plan the next step around it.
The Ontario pathway, in order
Every step below sits with a different organisation, which is why the order matters so much. Doing them out of sequence is what makes the whole thing drag.
- Get your credentials assessedThrough WES, ICAS or ICES. Start this early, because it depends on your original school sending documents, and that is the part nobody can rush for you.
- Apply to CNODirectly. There is no longer a separate gatekeeper to pass through first.
- CNO assesses your nursing educationTwo things can happen. Either your education meets the requirement and you move on, or CNO finds a gap and offers you a way to close it. Both outcomes are normal. A gap is not a rejection.
- Close the gap, if there is oneEither a bridging programme or an assessment called the RNCCAP. Which one suits you depends on how long you have been out of practice, and the difference is covered in the next section.
- Transition to PracticeA CNO-approved course, unless you already have Canadian nursing education or current Canadian registration.
- Evidence of practiceIf you graduated more than three years ago, CNO wants to see recent nursing work. This is the requirement that quietly catches nurses who moved to Canada first and started the paperwork afterwards — time out of practice counts against you, so do not let the file sit.
- Language proficiencyCNO accepts CELBAN, IELTS, OET, PTE Academic, TEF and TCF, and the test has to have been written within the two years before you register. Do not sit it years ahead of when you will need it.
If you are choosing between them, CELBAN is worth a look. It is built specifically for nurses, and the material is clinical rather than academic — charting, handover, speaking with patients.
- The registration examNCLEX-RN if you are applying as a Registered Nurse. REx-PN if you are applying as a Registered Practical Nurse. You sit it once CNO has found you eligible, not before.
- The jurisprudence examAn online CNO exam on Ontario law, regulation and professional standards. Separate from the registration exam, and often forgotten until the end.
- PaperworkProof of citizenship, residency or authorisation to work in Ontario, a declaration about past offences and findings, and a recent police criminal record check.
If CNO finds a gap in your education
You have two ways to close it, and they suit different people.
A bridging programmeThe Ontario Internationally Educated Nurses Course Consortium runs a CNO-approved programme funded by the Government of Ontario. Mostly online, with in-person simulation labs.
Its real advantage is that finishing it satisfies three CNO requirements at once: nursing education, transition to practice, and evidence of recent practice.
Better if you have been out of clinical work for a while, or your gap is a real one rather than administrative.
An assessment, by OSCEAn objective structured clinical examination run by Touchstone Institute. CNO has to refer you — you cannot simply book it.
Up to twelve stations of thirteen minutes each, with standardised clients, assessed across nine competency domains. You need an overall 3.5 out of 5. It currently costs $1,500 CAD in person or $1,750 CAD virtually, and results take up to eight weeks to reach CNO.
Better if you have been practising recently and are confident in your clinical judgement.
Talk it through before you commit. Choosing wrong costs you either money or a year.
If you are applying outside Ontario
Do not assume any of this transfers. Nursing is regulated province by province, several provinces still route internationally educated nurses through NNAS, and the requirements genuinely differ. Check with the regulator for the province you actually intend to work in, not the one your friend applied to.
Four things that cost people months
- Paying for the wrong assessment. The one this article is about.
- Sitting a language test too early. Results expire. Sit it when you are close to needing it, not the week you decide to emigrate.
- Booking the exam before CNO says you are eligible. Eligibility comes first, always.
- Taking any blog’s word for a requirement. Including this one. Requirements change, and the only source that counts is the regulator.
Questions we get asked most
Do I need NNAS to apply to CNO in Ontario?
No. CNO lists three approved educational credential assessment services — WES, ICAS and ICES — and NNAS is not among them. The single exception is an NNAS expedited report prepared by CGFNS, now called TruMerit, which CNO says it will continue to accept. A standard NNAS Advisory Report is a different product and is not on the list.
I have already paid for an NNAS report. Have I wasted the money?
Not necessarily. If it is an expedited report prepared by CGFNS or TruMerit, CNO says it will continue to accept it. If it is a standard Advisory Report, contact CNO before you plan anything around it. And if you are also considering another province, many regulators outside Ontario still use NNAS, so the report may still have a use.
Which credential assessment service should I choose for Ontario?
Any of the three CNO lists: WES, ICAS or ICES. They do the same job for this purpose. Compare their current fees, their processing times, and whether your school has dealt with any of them before, because document verification is usually the slowest part. Fees and timelines change, so check them on the day you decide rather than trusting a figure in an article.
Is the RNCCAP the same thing as the OSCE?
In practice, yes. The Registered Nurses Canadian Competency Assessment Program is delivered as an objective structured clinical examination at Touchstone Institute: up to twelve stations of thirteen minutes each, with standardised clients in simulated clinical settings. When nurses in Ontario say “the OSCE,” this is usually the exam they mean.
Can I book the NCLEX before CNO approves me?
No. You register with CNO first, CNO determines your eligibility, and only then are you authorised to test. Paying for exam preparation before you know which exam you need — NCLEX-RN or REx-PN — is one of the more expensive mistakes in this process.
How long does the whole process take?
There is no honest single answer, because most of the timeline is set by things outside your control: how quickly your original school sends documents, whether CNO finds a gap in your education, and which route you take to close it.
The parts you can control are starting the credential assessment early, keeping your evidence of recent practice current, and not sitting your language test so far ahead that it expires.
Do I need CELBAN, or is IELTS enough?
Either is accepted. CNO accepts CELBAN, IELTS, OET, PTE Academic, TEF and TCF, written within the two years before you register. CELBAN is built specifically for nurses and uses clinical material — charting, handover, speaking with patients — so nurses who have struggled with IELTS often find it a fairer test of the English they actually use at work.
Does any of this apply if I want to work in Alberta or British Columbia?
No. Nursing is regulated province by province, and several regulators outside Ontario still route internationally educated nurses through NNAS. Check the requirements with the regulator for the province you actually intend to work in before you spend anything.
Sources
- CNO — Approved Educational Credential Assessment Service Providers
- CNO — New nursing registration requirements take effect
- CNO — Next steps: RN in the General Class (Internationally Educated Nurse)
- CNO — Registered Nurses Canadian Competency Assessment Program
- CNO — Accepted Language Proficiency Tests
- Touchstone Institute — RNCCAP–IENCAP
- Ontario Internationally Educated Nurses Course Consortium
- NNAS — Fees
