{"id":31429,"date":"2026-07-24T22:43:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T22:43:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/healthcareethicscourses.com\/can\/?page_id=31429"},"modified":"2026-07-25T00:38:39","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T00:38:39","slug":"how-to-respond-to-a-cno-complaint","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/healthcareethicscourses.com\/can\/how-to-respond-to-a-cno-complaint\/","title":{"rendered":"How to respond to a CNO complaint"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"31429\" class=\"elementor elementor-31429\" data-elementor-post-type=\"page\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cc64451 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cc64451\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-51e0406 elementor-widget elementor-widget-html\" data-id=\"51e0406\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"html.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n<!-- How to respond to a CNO complaint | Elementor Custom HTML fragment -->\r\n<!-- Body only. 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Support<\/a><span>\/<\/span><a href=\"\/can\/knowledge-support\/\">Nurses &amp; Midwives &mdash; Ontario<\/a><span>\/<\/span>Responding to a CNO complaint\r\n  <\/nav>\r\n\r\n  <p class=\"eyebrow\">Ontario &middot; College of Nurses of Ontario<\/p>\r\n  <h1>How to respond to a CNO complaint<\/h1>\r\n  <div class=\"meta\"><b>8 min read<\/b><span>Last updated July 14, 2026<\/span><\/div>\r\n\r\n  <p class=\"lede\">Your written response is, in most cases, the <strong>only<\/strong> chance you get to speak. A panel of the Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee decides your case on the paper record alone &mdash; it hears no witnesses and holds no hearing. What you put in writing is what it reads.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <div class=\"callout\">\r\n    <p><b>Do this first:<\/b> Note the response deadline in the College&rsquo;s letter &mdash; usually 30 days &mdash; and contact the Canadian Nurses Protective Society (CNPS) before you write anything. CNPS Supplementary Protection exists specifically to fund legal assistance with a complaint to your regulator. Do not send an informal explanation, and do not contact the person who complained.<\/p>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <h2>Who regulates you &mdash; and who is reading the file<\/h2>\r\n  <p>Nurses in Ontario are regulated by the <strong>College of Nurses of Ontario<\/strong> (CNO) under the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991 (RHPA), the Health Professions Procedural Code in Schedule 2 of that Act, and the Nursing Act, 1991. Midwives are regulated separately, by the <strong>College of Midwives of Ontario<\/strong> &mdash; but because both are RHPA colleges governed by the same Code, the process described here works the same way for both. Throughout this guide, &ldquo;the College&rdquo; means whichever regulator holds your certificate of registration.<\/p>\r\n  <p>The body that will decide your complaint is the <strong>Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee<\/strong> (ICRC), a statutory committee made up of professional and public members. It is important to understand what the ICRC is not: it is not a tribunal. It does not hold a hearing, hear live witnesses, or decide who is telling the truth. It screens the paper record and asks whether the concerns, if true, are serious enough to go further.<\/p>\r\n  <h2>Where complaints come from<\/h2>\r\n  <p>A complaint can come from a patient, a family member, a colleague, or an employer. But a great many nursing matters never start as a complaint at all. Under the RHPA, employers, facility operators and other regulated health professionals have <strong>mandatory reporting duties<\/strong> &mdash; a termination, a resignation while under investigation, or a finding of incompetence or negligence must be reported to the College. The College can also act on information it obtains itself. If you have lost a job over allegations, assume the College will hear about it.<\/p>\r\n  <h2>The 30-day deadline &mdash; and why the response matters so much<\/h2>\r\n  <p>The College will write to you, enclose the complaint, and ask for a written response, normally within <strong>30 days<\/strong>. It is easy to underestimate this letter. In practice your written response is often the single opportunity you have to comment on the allegations, and it forms part of the written record on which the ICRC decides &mdash; including whether to refer you to the Discipline Committee. There is no later stage at which you get to explain yourself in person unless the matter is referred to a hearing.<\/p>\r\n  <p>You are also <strong>obliged to cooperate<\/strong> with the College&rsquo;s process, which can include taking part in an interview. Cooperation is not the same as volunteering an unconsidered narrative. Get advice, then respond properly and on time.<\/p>\r\n  <h2>What a strong response looks like<\/h2>\r\n  <p>A response that helps you usually does four things. It sets out the clinical or professional reasoning behind what you did, in your own words, anchored to the record. It encloses the relevant documents &mdash; the chart, the policy you were working to, the staffing reality on the shift. It addresses the standard directly rather than talking around it. And, where the complaint has some merit, it says so.<\/p>\r\n  <p>That last point is the one nurses most often get wrong. Where a concern is well founded, acknowledging it and showing what you have done about it &mdash; reflection, targeted education, a change in practice &mdash; can give the ICRC confidence that you have learned from the experience and that no order is needed to make it stick. Denial in the face of a clear record does the opposite.<\/p>\r\n  <h2>What the ICRC can do<\/h2>\r\n  <p>After considering the investigation report and your response, a panel of the ICRC can take no further action; make recommendations or give advice about your practice; issue a <strong>written caution<\/strong>; require you to attend in person to receive an <strong>oral caution<\/strong>; require an <strong>undertaking<\/strong>; require a <strong>Specified Continuing Education or Remediation Programme (SCERP)<\/strong>; refer specified allegations to the <strong>Discipline Committee<\/strong>; or refer you to the Fitness to Practise Committee. It may also dismiss a complaint it considers frivolous, vexatious, made in bad faith, moot or otherwise an abuse of process &mdash; but only after giving you and the complainant 30 days&rsquo; notice.<\/p>\r\n  <p>Three of those outcomes are public. <strong>SCERPs, oral cautions and referrals to discipline are published on your profile on the Public Register<\/strong>, where an employer or a member of the public can find them. That is why the difference between advice and a SCERP is worth taking seriously at the response stage, not after.<\/p>\r\n  <h2>Interim orders: the risk that arrives early<\/h2>\r\n  <p>Where the concerns are serious enough that patients may be exposed to harm, the ICRC can make an <strong>interim order<\/strong> during the investigation &mdash; terms, conditions or limitations on your certificate of registration, up to and including suspension &mdash; which can last for the duration of the case. An interim order is not a finding against you, but it has an immediate effect on your ability to work, and it is one more reason to take advice early rather than after a decision lands.<\/p>\r\n  <h2>If the decision goes against you<\/h2>\r\n  <p>Where the ICRC has disposed of a <em>complaint<\/em>, both you and the complainant can ask the <strong>Health Professions Appeal and Review Board<\/strong> (HPARB) to review the decision, generally within 30 days. HPARB&rsquo;s power is narrow: it looks at whether the investigation was adequate and whether the decision was reasonable &mdash; it does not rehear the case. Decisions to refer to the Discipline Committee or to Fitness to Practise cannot be reviewed by HPARB, and decisions made on a Registrar&rsquo;s report under section 75 are outside HPARB&rsquo;s jurisdiction altogether, leaving judicial review as the only route.<\/p>\r\n  <p>For what the investigation stage itself involves, read <a href=\"https:\/\/healthcareethicscourses.com\/can\/knowledge-support\/nurses-midwives\/ontario\/investigation\/\">what happens during a CNO investigation<\/a>. For how to build the corrective record that changes an outcome, read <a href=\"https:\/\/healthcareethicscourses.com\/can\/knowledge-support\/nurses-midwives\/ontario\/remediation\/\">remediation and reflection for Ontario nurses and midwives<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <section class=\"kt\">\r\n    <h2>Key takeaways<\/h2>\r\n    <ul>\r\n      <li>The College of Nurses of Ontario must investigate and act on complaints about a nurse&rsquo;s conduct or competence; it cannot simply ignore one.<\/li>\r\n      <li>You normally have 30 days to respond in writing, and the response forms part of the record the ICRC decides on.<\/li>\r\n      <li>The ICRC is a screening committee. It works on paper, hears no live witnesses, and makes no credibility findings.<\/li>\r\n      <li>Complaints are not the only route: employers must report terminations, resignations during an investigation, and findings of incompetence or negligence.<\/li>\r\n      <li>SCERPs, oral cautions and referrals to discipline appear on your entry on the Public Register.<\/li>\r\n      <li>Midwives in Ontario are regulated by the College of Midwives of Ontario, which runs the same RHPA process.<\/li>\r\n    <\/ul>\r\n  <\/section>\r\n\r\n  <section class=\"courses\">\r\n    <h2>Related courses<\/h2>\r\n    <p class=\"sub\">Courses that map to what the ICRC actually reads &mdash; your account, your records and your standards:<\/p>\r\n    <div class=\"cgrid\">\r\n      <a class=\"ccard\" href=\"https:\/\/healthcareethicscourses.com\/can\/courses\/dealing-with-a-complaint-or-investigation-professionally\/\"><b>Dealing with a Complaint or Investigation Professionally<\/b><span>How to handle a College letter and prepare a measured written response.<\/span><\/a>\r\n      <a class=\"ccard\" href=\"https:\/\/healthcareethicscourses.com\/can\/courses\/documentation-for-healthcare-professionals\/\"><b>Documentation for Healthcare Professionals<\/b><span>The chart is the evidence the ICRC reads &mdash; how to keep records that hold up.<\/span><\/a>\r\n      <a class=\"ccard\" href=\"https:\/\/healthcareethicscourses.com\/can\/courses\/ethics-and-ethical-standards-for-nurses-and-midwives\/\"><b>Ethics and Ethical Standards for Nurses and Midwives<\/b><span>The professional standards the College measures your conduct against.<\/span><\/a>\r\n      <a class=\"ccard\" href=\"https:\/\/healthcareethicscourses.com\/can\/courses\/effective-communication-for-healthcare-professionals\/\"><b>Effective Communication for Healthcare Professionals<\/b><span>Most complaints begin with a breakdown in communication, not clinical error.<\/span><\/a>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n  <\/section>\r\n\r\n  <section class=\"nextset\">\r\n    <h2>Continue reading<\/h2>\r\n    <div class=\"ngrid\">\r\n      <a class=\"ncard\" href=\"https:\/\/healthcareethicscourses.com\/can\/what-happens-during-a-cno-investigation\">What happens during a CNO investigation?<\/a>\r\n      <a class=\"ncard\" href=\"https:\/\/healthcareethicscourses.com\/can\/remediation-and-reflection-for-ontario-nurses-and-midwives\">Remediation and reflection for Ontario nurses and midwives<\/a>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n  <\/section>\r\n\r\n  <section class=\"faq\">\r\n    <h2>Frequently asked questions<\/h2>\r\n      <details>\r\n        <summary>How long do I have to respond to a CNO complaint?<\/summary>\r\n        <div class=\"ans\">Normally 30 days from the College&rsquo;s letter. If you need more time, ask in writing before the deadline passes rather than letting it lapse. Contact CNPS before you draft anything.<\/div>\r\n      <\/details>\r\n      <details>\r\n        <summary>Can I just explain informally and clear this up?<\/summary>\r\n        <div class=\"ans\">No. The ICRC decides on the paper record. Your written response is usually your only opportunity to comment, and it forms part of the record used to decide whether to refer you to the Discipline Committee. An informal or off-the-cuff account can do lasting damage.<\/div>\r\n      <\/details>\r\n      <details>\r\n        <summary>Does the ICRC hold a hearing?<\/summary>\r\n        <div class=\"ans\">No. The ICRC is a screening committee. It reviews the complaint, the investigator&rsquo;s report and your response on paper. It does not hear live witnesses and does not make findings on credibility.<\/div>\r\n      <\/details>\r\n      <details>\r\n        <summary>Will the complaint show up on the Public Register?<\/summary>\r\n        <div class=\"ans\">Some outcomes will. SCERPs, oral cautions and referrals to the Discipline Committee are published on your profile on the Public Register. Advice, recommendations and a decision to take no further action are not published in the same way.<\/div>\r\n      <\/details>\r\n      <details>\r\n        <summary>My employer reported me rather than a patient complaining. Is that different?<\/summary>\r\n        <div class=\"ans\">The route in differs but the process is much the same. Employers must report terminations, resignations during an investigation, and findings of incompetence or negligence. Both complaints and reports are reviewed by the ICRC.<\/div>\r\n      <\/details>\r\n      <details>\r\n        <summary>Does this apply to midwives as well as nurses?<\/summary>\r\n        <div class=\"ans\">Midwives in Ontario are regulated by the College of Midwives of Ontario rather than the CNO, but both are RHPA colleges operating under the same Health Professions Procedural Code, so the ICRC process, deadlines and outcomes described here apply in the same way.<\/div>\r\n      <\/details>\r\n  <\/section>\r\n\r\n  <p class=\"disc\">This guide describes the process of the College of Nurses of Ontario and, for midwives, the College of Midwives of Ontario. It is general information about how the regulator works and is <strong>not legal advice<\/strong>. Every case turns on its own facts. Before you respond to the College, contact the Canadian Nurses Protective Society (CNPS) or, for midwives, your professional liability protection provider, and consider a lawyer experienced in RHPA regulatory matters. Completing a course does not resolve a College matter and does not guarantee any outcome. 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