You are eligible to renew your credential by rewriting the certification exam if you:
- Are CNA-certified
- Are registered or licensed to practise
- Have completed 2,925 hours of experience in your nursing practice specialty over your past five-year certification term
However, most candidates renew through continuous learning.
Read our important dates to learn when you can renew your specialty certification.
Fees
If you renew by exam, you will have to pay the exam fees at application time. Note: an exam booking fee will be additional.
There are several exam-writing options available. You can write at home with a proctor using the ProctorU system or write at a test centre with Meazure Learning.
Retired exams in 2019
For a certification exam to be feasible there needs to be enough nurses practising in the specialty. This ensures a minimum number of exam writers annually. Five certification exams – gastroenterology, neuroscience, orthopaedic, perianesthesia and rehabilitation – were considered no longer sustainable for CNA. After much consultation with the respective nursing specialty associations, CNA decided to retire these exams effective November 2019.
Please note: Nurses certified in any of these five specialties can only maintain their credential by renewing every five years through continuous learning. Renewal by exam is no longer being offered.