1-800-267-3390Frequently Asked Questions: CRNA Registrants
The College of Registered Nurses of Alberta (CRNA) no longer collects the CNPS fee as part of the CRNA permit registration/renewal process. CNPS Professional Liability Protection (PLP) and Core Services remains a permit requirement.
MyCNPS
Sometimes a refresh of the College Connect page is required. Please login to your CRNA College Connect account and go to the Professional Liability step. Click on the ‘Next’ step button. This action will cause a verification of your CNPS services status.
If it still does not turn green, please verify on your CNPS receipt that you have selected the correct professional liability protection period. If you are applying for a CRNA permit starting immediately/for the remainder of the 2023 permit year, you must register for 2023 PLP and 2024 PLP. If you have registered for 2024 PLP only and require 2023 PLP as well, please contact us for assistance.
- Please login to your AAN membership area and verify your information. Please ensure that all fields have been filled in.
- Does your first and last name, nursing designation, and CRNA license number match in both the AAN and MyCNPS platforms?
- If you hold multiple nursing designations, make sure that your RN or NP designation is listed as your primary designation
- Do you hold an ‘Active’ AAN membership that expires in 2024? If you hold a ‘Student’ or ‘Retired’ AAN membership and you have already renewed for 2024, please contact info@albertanursing.ca to change your membership status.
Before proceeding, please check your Junk email folder to ensure the password reset email hasn’t been sent there. If you are unsure as to whether you are using the correct email address, please contact us via https://cnps.ca/contact-us/.
If you are no longer able to access or you have forgotten the previously used email address, please get in touch with us using our Contact Us form prior to beginning the registration and renewal process.
If you encounter this issue, please contact us.
While you can access your MyCNPS account and complete registration using a mobile device, we recommend that you use a desktop computer, laptop or tablet for the best user experience. If you are still encountering issues, please email us directly by using our Contact Us form.
You should typically receive an email when you successfully process your transaction. However, please note that emails may take up to 24 hours.
If you have not received an email after 24 hours, please email us by using our Contact Us form and we will be happy to provide you with a confirmation by email. Don’t forget to also check your junk mail in case it was filtered into there.
Navigate to the “Orders” tab in your MyCNPS account and click on the order number you would like a receipt for. In the upper right-hand corner of the screen, you will see a “Transactions” box. Click on the transaction number, then click the button “Send receipt via email.”
Many text fields in your account are fully editable, and you can make edits to most fields by clicking on the pencil next to the editable field. If you are using a mobile device, there will be an edit button at the top of the page. If you find a mistake on your account in a field that you are unable to edit, we kindly ask that you email us directly by using our Contact Us form.
At this time, the MyCNPS platform is only available in English. We would, however, be pleased to facilitate registration for you in French, please contact us directly for assistance.
No, a shared email address will not be accepted by the system as there can only be one user per email address. Please also ensure that you use an individual email address (avoid using generic emails such as info@example.ca) to create your MyCNPS account profile.
We ask that you please contact us to make this change, as this type of transaction is not currently available via the MyCNPS platform. Please submit your request via our Contact Us form.
The CNPS is pleased to issue a written confirmation that you are generally eligible for its professional liability protection when this is requested by your employer or another third party where or for whom you are providing professional nursing services. Please submit a request by completing this form on our website.
General FAQ
We have improved our registration platform to include a user portal called MyCNPS for both individual beneficiaries and members of the AAN. With a MyCNPS account, you will have easy access to your CNPS registrations, eligibility details, and receipts. You will need to activate your MyCNPS account in order to register.
If you are a member of the Alberta Association of Nurses (AAN), you can benefit from the CNPS group rate.* You can renew your AAN membership and CNPS Protection via the AAN membership area. Please have your AAN membership number ready before proceeding to CNPS renewal.
To get started, please visit our Join or renew page and click on Alberta.
*This rate is in addition to the Association membership fee of $50. Please note, joining the AAN does not mean you are automatically registered for CNPS PLP. Please ensure that you complete the CNPS registration following your AAN registration.
The AAN is Alberta’s professional nursing association for active and retired nurses. Membership has many benefits, including a group rate for CNPS Professional Liability Protection and Core Services. Membership with the AAN is not required for your permit. To learn more about the AAN, please visit www.albertanursing.ca.
In August 2020, the College of Registered Nurses of Alberta (CRNA) made the decision to move towards a single mandate focused on setting regulatory standards for nurses. As the regulatory body, CRNA is required by law to stipulate the PLP requirement. Though CRNA continues to mandate that all registrants must fulfill the professional liability protection (PLP) requirement by registering with the CNPS, it is no longer able to collect the fees on behalf of registrants.
The Alberta Association of Nurses (AAN) officially launched this spring and the CRNA has transferred its CNPS jurisdictional membership to the AAN. This means that nurses who choose to join the AAN can access the CNPS Professional Liability Protection and Core Services at the group rate. Nurses can also choose to register through the CNPS directly at the link below, at the individual rate.
Joining the AAN is voluntary, but registering for PLP remains a permit requirement. To learn more about the benefits of AAN membership, please visit www.albertanursing.ca.
As a result of recent changes to the Health Professions Act, the CRNA must continue to mandate the PLP requirement as it condition of practice but can no longer collect the PLP fee.
Professional liability protection (PLP) provides financial compensation for members of the public who have been harmed as a result of malpractice or negligence by a health professional. For instance, if a court found that a patient suffered injury as a result of nursing care that falls below accepted standards, the court could require that the nurse who provided the negligent care compensate the patient. In such case, a PLP provider would normally cover the cost of legal representation for that nurse and pay the compensation ordered by the court on their behalf. As a result, the public is protected because an adequate source of compensation is available to them. The health care professional is also protected because they benefit from legal representation when facing a claim for compensation and do not have to personally bear the full cost of the legal proceedings and the compensation, should the court order that it be paid.
In Alberta, the College of Registered Nurses of Alberta’s bylaws stipulate that beneficiary status with the Canadian Nurses Protective Society is a requirement of practice. Up until the 2022-2023 practice year, CNPS fees were collected during the CRNA permit application. This year, CRNA registrants need to take the necessary steps to renew their PLP through the CNPS directly.
No, CNPS Professional Liability Protection and Core Services remain the same, regardless of which option you choose. Those who choose to join the AAN can benefit from the group rate.
Please note that CNPS Professional Liability Protection and Core Services does not include assistance with regulatory complaints. The Supplementary Protection program is an additional, optional service offered by the CNPS. This program expands the CNPS scope of protection to assistance with regulatory complaints. If you are interested in learning more about this program or submitting a new application, click here.
The Canadian Nurses Protective Society (CNPS) has been the professional liability protection provider of choice for CRNA registrants (as well as registered nurses and nurse practitioners in most Canadian provinces and territories) since 1988. The CNPS is a not-for-profit society providing legal advice, risk management services, legal assistance and professional liability protection related to nursing practice to over 140,000 Canadian nurses across all Canadian provinces and territories.
As a discretionary legal support system created by nurses, for nurses, the CNPS is known to provide one of the broadest scopes of professional liability protection. We know that your practice is constantly evolving. That is why our scope of protection grows with it and why we offer legal and risk management advice to support your practice and promote safe patient care, along with a variety of continuing education opportunities. The CNPS may also use its discretion to assist in a broader range of circumstances to both protect the public and the integrity of your nursing practice, including in some of the unusual and unpredictable circumstances that can arise.
We encourage you to think of the CNPS as a legal resource in your day-to-day practice! To learn more about CNPS Core Services, please visit https://cnps.ca/services/plp-core/.
If you wish to apply for the CNPS Supplementary Protection program now, please submit your application separately here. We will be streamlining this process in the near future.
The Supplementary Protection program is an additional, optional service offered by the CNPS. This program expands the CNPS scope of protection to assistance with regulatory complaints. If you are interested in learning more about this program or submitting a new application, click here.
The information above applies to CRNA registrants only. If you practice nursing in Alberta via a different licensure method, you may register for CNPS Core Services at the applicable CNPS individual rate. Please note that the applicable CNPS fee can vary according to your professional designation. It can also vary depending on whether you practice in a province where all or less than all practising nurses of the same professional designation are CNPS beneficiaries. Finally, it can vary depending on whether you access the CNPS as part of a member organization or designated beneficiary group, or on an individual basis.
As permit cycles vary between provinces, you must pay the CNPS for each designation and jurisdiction you hold registration with. The CNPS will endeavor to provide a refund, at their year-end, for your additional charges (an administrative fee will apply).