The vast majority of CNA-certified nurses renew their credential through the CL option, which requires you to accumulate 100 CL hours related to your nursing practice specialty over the five-year term.
Read our important dates to learn when you can renew your specialty certification. If you’re ready to renew your certification, sign in to your CNA account. Before renewing, you may want to learn more about the renewal requirements.
Please take the time to familiarize yourself with the activity guidelines outlined below.
Track your learning
The easiest way for you to track your CL hours is by using our form, Continuous Learning for Certification Renewal: Activities and Competencies [PDF, 82.1KB]. It is a convenient way to log your activities as you complete them. At the end of your five-year term, you submit your CL activities as part of your renewal application (we don’t need to see your CL hours until then).
When you apply for renewal, you will need to upload your CL tracking form.
It’s also important that you keep all official documents confirming your attendance in CL activities. These documents may be required as part of our renewal auditing process.
CL activities — general guidelines
The CNA Certification Program offers a great deal of flexibility on the type of CL activities you can count toward renewing your certification credential.
- Each CL activity must relate to improving knowledge and skills in your nursing practice specialty. This means the primary responsibilities in your job description would not count (e.g., if you’re a nurse educator responsible for orientating new staff, orientations or teaching would not count as a CL activity)
- Each CL activity must be completed within the five-year certification term.
- Count one CL hour for each clock hour.
- Count any CL activities that are 30 minutes or longer.
- You don’t need our pre-authorization to count your CL activities.
- Count the same CL activity only once during the five-year term, unless it’s at a higher level. For example, you can only count “basic cardiac life support” once over the five years, even if you take it more than once. But “basic cardiac life support” and “advanced cardiac life support” would count as two separate CL activities.
- We accept CL activities earned outside Canada.