CPNRE

Canadian Practical Nurse Registration Examination (CPNRE)

One of the ways the CLPNA measures competence for practical nurses is the Canadian Practical Nurse Registration Examination (CPNRE). The CPNRE tests your knowledge of practical nursing principles and your ability to apply this knowledge in healthcare scenarios.

Successfully passing the CPNRE is the final step required for practical nursing students to obtain Active registration with the CLPNA.

Eligibility

To be eligible to write the CPNRE, you must be a successful graduate of a practical nursing program in Canada or an internationally educated nurse who has been assessed by the CLPNA.

The CPNRE cannot be “challenged” to meet LPN entry-to-practice requirements.

Booking Your Exam

How Do I Book My Exam?
CPNRE Dates and Application Timelines
CPNRE Fees
Accommodations

Within ten business days of paying your final invoice, you are placed into the first available testing window. You will receive a CPNRE information email within the ten business days. This email will provide important information about the testing window you are placed into, including when you can expect a booking email from Meazure Learning, and when you can expect results from the exam.  Once you receive the booking email from Meazure Learning, you will then be required to select a specific date and time for your exam.

Please note that when you login to MyCLPNA, your dashboard shows your exam time as the last date in the testing window. This is a placeholder until we get your exam results. It is not the actual date you are booked. The CLPNA does not get information on the date you booked until we receive the exam results.

Please visit Online Proctoring FAQ for Candidates using the Meazure Exam Platform – Meazure Learning for up-to-date information about technical requirements and how to write the exam.

There are designated testing windows for the CPNRE exam. When you can take the exam depends on when payment of final invoice is received.

Exams run in January, March, May, July, September, and November.

Completed Applications (including transcripts) 
Received Between
Testing Window
August 22 – October 23, 2024 November 1 – November 30, 2024
January 1 – January 31, 2025 October 24 – December 16, 2024
March 1 – March 31, 2025 December 17, 2024 – February 12, 2025
May 1 – May 31, 2025 February 13 – April 14, 2025
July 1 – July 31, 2025 April 15 – June 11, 2025
September 1 – September 30, 2025 June 12 – August 13, 2025
November 1 – November 30, 2025 August 14 – October 15, 2025

 

Once you have paid for your exam, you will be placed into the first available testing window based on the table above.

If you do not write within the testing window you are placed in, there is a $100 Did Not Write fee.

 

CPNRE 

$600 (all inclusive fee)

  • Admin Fee $115
  • Exam Fee $485

 

See: Fee Schedule. For questions please email Student Services.

You can request an exam accommodation for various reasons related to a disability. Examples of such accommodations can include requiring extra time, a separate room, a reader, or a recorder.

You can request an accommodation if you meet the following requirements:

  • You have a disability that is currently being treated by a physician or has been diagnosed and treated in the past.
  • Your disability creates barriers or may negatively impact your success in taking the Exam.

See: CPNRE Accommodations Policy

To apply, request an accommodations application from the CLPNA and submit the completed application and required documentation. The completed application and required documentation must be returned to the CLPNA directly by the completing physician.

Email Student Services

 

After Your Exam

The CLPNA releases exam results within four to six weeks of the testing window closing.

The CLPNA will send an email informing the writer when the results are posted on their MyCLPNA account.

If you pass the exam and hold a provisional practice permit, your provisional practice permit will be changed to an active permit one to two business days after the results are posted. There is no additional fee when you are switched to active status.

If you applied for the CPNRE only and would like to have an Active practice permit, please email studentservices@clpna.com to request the application.

If an exam results in a failure, the CLPNA will send out an email with a performance profile on how you performed on the exam within five business days of posting the exam results. This performance profile will identify areas to improve for the next exam write. The CLPNA will also provide the rewrite form. The form can be returned to the CLPNA through Student Services. If it is your third fail on the exam and you still hold a provisional practice permit, your permit will be cancelled.

If you are unsuccessful on your fourth attempt, you will need to return to school to complete another practical nursing program. Completion of a new practical nursing program will provide you with another provisional permit and an additional four attempts at the exam.

Read Exam Attempts Info Sheet

 

Other Frequently Asked Questions

There are several resources to help students prepare for the CPNRE.

Canadian Practical Nurse Exam Prep Guide (6th Edition)

The CPNRE Prep Guide, 6th Edition, will help you prepare to write the Canadian Practical Nurse Registration Examination. The Prep Guide is designed to familiarize you with the format of the actual examination and to provide you with information on the content of the examination.

The guide contains a full-length Practice Exam developed by the same people who create and score the examination. The Practice Exam is a simulation of an actual examination.

Order the Canadian Practical Nurse Exam Prep Guide

Students are also encouraged to read through the CPNRE Exam Blueprint use your resources from school, and notes from your program.

CPNRE Predictor Test Website

The CPNRE Predictor Test is a tool designed to help you gauge how ready you are to take the CPNRE and to help focus your studying by identifying areas in which you are weak.

RELATED – CPNRE Predictor Test Website

Learn more about the CPNRE: www.cpnre.ca

 

No. The CLPNA registration examination will continue to be the Canadian Practical Nurse Registration Examination (CPNRE). The REx-PN is only being offered through British Columbia and Ontario.

The CLPNA encourages all graduates to write the exam in the jurisdiction where they received their education, although it is not necessary. The CLPNA will evaluate the applicant’s practical nursing program to ensure that it aligns with the requirements for an Alberta program. This evaluation may include a review of transcripts, program outcomes, and/or curriculum. If the program taken in the other province aligns with an Alberta program, the applicant will be eligible for registration and can then write the CPNRE.

No. If an applicant has already passed a registration exam and held an active registration in Canada, they do not need to write the CPNRE.

To determine if you can write the REx-PN, you would need to contact one of the jurisdictions who offer that exam and find out their criteria for being eligible.

Questions About Registration?

Contact Registration through Ask CLPNA
or call 1-800-661-5877.