How We Operate

How We Operate

The College of Registered Nurses of Alberta (CRNA) is a regulatory college under the Health Professions Act (HPA). We partner with the Government of Alberta to protect the public interest and develop, monitor and enforce accountability mechanisms within Alberta’s health system. 

Under the HPA, we are responsible for governing and regulating registered nurses (RNs), nurse practitioners (NPs), certified graduate nurses (CGNs), graduate nurses (GNs) and graduate nurse practitioners (GNPs). Specifically, the CRNA is responsible for:

• Approving nursing education programs
• Setting licensure requirements
• Issuing annual permits to enable nurses to practise
• Ensuring registrants maintain competence and stay current in their practice
• Developing and enforcing standards of behaviour and conduct we expect from our registrants
• Acting on complaints about our registrants and holding registrants accountable

The CRNA is committed to meeting and exceeding its legislative responsibilities by using a right-touch regulation approach. Right-touch regulation is a regulatory decision-making approach that focuses on using the right or appropriate amount of regulation to achieve the desired effect. By following this approach, we are able to streamline our regulatory processes, adapt to changes in the health system and optimize our ability to protect the public interest.