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Canadian Practical Nurse Registration Examination (CPNRE)
The CPNRE is the entry-to-practice examination for practical nurses used by most Canadian provincial and territorial regulatory authorities outside Quebec, British Columbia and Ontario. Yardstick Assessment Strategies (YAS) develops the exam on behalf of the regulators; it is a four-hour, 160-170 item computer-based multiple-choice examination offered in English and French.
Official exam siteJump to prep options ↓
Questions160-170 multiple-choice questions; some questions in each exam are experimental and do not count toward the score
Testing time4 hours
ScoringPass/fail against a pass mark set by a panel of Canadian content experts using the modified Angoff technique, with test equating carrying the standard forward across exam forms; no fixed pass percentage is published
Exam feeCAD 610 exam fee (e.g., Saskatchewan CLPNS: 'The CPNRE fee is $610.00'; Alberta CLHA itemizes the same $610 total as a $115 CPNRE admin fee plus $495 CPNRE exam fee, all fees in Canadian dollars including GST) — regulators set their own additional application fees
Prep options
Study resources for CPNRE
Independent prep
Courses and study resources
Exam overview
What to know before choosing your prep
- Who runs it
- YAS
- Category
- Nursing Licensure
- Current version
- CPNRE Examination Blueprint (2022-2026), effective January 2022
- Where it applies
- Canada — national
- Exam languages
- English, French
- Testing provider
- Pearson VUE (proctored test-centre network); candidate scheduling is handled through Meazure Learning, parent of exam developer Yardstick Assessment Strategies (per the Saskatchewan regulator's candidate flow)
- Format
- Computer-based; delivered in Pearson VUE's network of proctored test centres (virtual/remote delivery used in Saskatchewan)
- Availability
- Six testing windows per year (approximately one month each in January, March, May, July, September and November) for the computer-based administrations in Alberta, Yukon, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, PEI, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador; cpnre.ca's published schedule is labelled 2024
- Results
- Official results released approximately two weeks after the mid-point of the writing window and again two weeks after the window closes, emailed by the regulatory authority (Saskatchewan CLPNS)
- Remote testing
- Varies by jurisdiction
Exam structure
All multiple-choice items (stem plus four options), presented 40-60% as independent stand-alone questions and 40-60% within case sets of approximately 3-5 questions tied to a health-care scenario; content sampled across 76 entry-level competencies in three competency categories with target exam weightings — professional, ethical and legal practice 15-25%, foundations of practice 60-70%, collaborative practice 10-20% — and three cognitive levels (knowledge/comprehension, application, critical thinking)
Where rules vary
Canada-wide examination adopted province-by-province: cpnre.ca says it 'is administered in every Canadian province and territory with the exception of Quebec', but cpnre.ca's own regulatory-authorities directory lists only AB, MB, NB, NL, NT/NU, NS, PE, SK and YT — British Columbia and Ontario now use the separate REx-PN examination (College of Nurses of Ontario: 'The REx-PN is the exam accepted for applicants who want to register with CNO as a Registered Practical Nurse (RPN) in the General Class.'). The exam content itself is uniform across adopting jurisdictions.
Eligibility
Eligibility to write is determined by the candidate's provincial/territorial regulatory authority; after approval the candidate receives an Authorization to Test email from Pearson VUE before scheduling a test-centre appointment
Retake policy
Set by each regulatory authority; Saskatchewan (CLPNS) allows four attempts, which must occur in succession, and counts a no-show as an attempt