How to Become a Nurse Practitioner in New Brunswick

The short answer

A nurse practitioner (NP) in New Brunswick is a registered nurse (RN) who holds an additional registration class with the College of Nursing of New Brunswick (CNNB) — the regulator formerly known as the Nurses Association of New Brunswick (NANB), renamed on February 2, 2026. There is no separate nurse practitioner college. You start as an RN, complete a graduate-level NP program, pass the national NP exam, and then register in the NP class with the same College.

The route, in order, is: hold RN registration in New Brunswick, complete an approved NP master's program, write the national NP exam, apply for NP registration through the College's online profile, and renew every year by November 30. This guide covers the New Brunswick route only. Quebec runs a different system — its nurses write an OIIQ specialty examination, not the national exam — so do not carry Quebec's steps into a New Brunswick application.

Step 1 — Hold registered nurse registration

NP registration builds on RN registration. The College's NP requirements page states that to be eligible for NP registration you must have completed an approved NP program and education for prescribing controlled drugs and substances, or be a graduate of a program that satisfies that requirement. If you are not yet an RN, start with our How to Become a Registered Nurse in New Brunswick guide. This guide does not re-explain the RN route beyond this handoff point.

Step 2 — Complete an approved nurse practitioner master's program

The in-province program is the University of New Brunswick's Master of Nursing, Advanced Nurse Practitioner stream. It runs 20 months full time, admits students every second year (2025, 2027, 2029 and so on), and starts in the fall. Admission needs a bachelor of nursing degree, a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.3 (B+ level), and RN registration in New Brunswick by September of the year you start. The program includes 700 hours across five clinical practicums, in a preceptorship model, with in-person labs and clinical evaluations in Fredericton, Moncton, or Saint John.

The College accepts graduates of an approved NP program in one of four streams: Family/All Ages, Adult, Pediatric, or Neo-Natal, from an approved school of nursing in Canada or the equivalent. Whatever school you choose, the program must include education for prescribing controlled drugs and substances — the College lists that as a distinct eligibility condition.

Step 3 — Write the national nurse practitioner exam

Graduates of the University of New Brunswick program write the Canadian Nurse Practitioner Licensure Examination (CNPLE). It is the single-entry national NP exam, which has replaced the previous Pediatric, Adult, and Family/All Ages stream exams, and it is the exam the College of Nursing of New Brunswick uses for initial NP licensure. The exam is multiple-choice, run by Meazure Learning/Yardstick Assessment Strategies, and is completed through an online proctored platform held four times a year, in February, May, June, and September. You may take it at home or request a testing site in Moncton, Saint John, or Fredericton. To sit it you must have completed a primary health care NP program and submitted all application and fee requirements to the College at least 6 weeks before the exam date. Results arrive in about 6 to 8 weeks, as a pass or fail. If you are eligible, you may request temporary registration as a graduate NP (GNP) while you wait for your results. The exam fee is not published on the College's page — it is communicated directly to candidates by the exam vendor, and all fees are paid to the vendor.

Step 4 — Apply for NP registration with the College

Apply through the College's online profile. The College's application page for Canadian NPs sets out the procedure:

1. Create a CNNB profile and submit an application for "Registered – Nurse Practitioner," and pay the application fee.
2. Submit proof of your legal name with valid Canadian identification.
3. Complete the Confirmation of Hours of Practice form with each employer where you worked in the past three years, and arrange for the employer to send it directly to the College.
4. Submit a current enhanced criminal record check through CSI Screening, naming CNNB as the company. Criminal record checks are valid for 6 months from the date of issue.
5. Complete the Jurisprudence module for Nurse Practitioners on your College profile.
6. Buy Canadian Nurses Protective Society (CNPS) insurance. Within two to three business days of the College receiving the documents, you are told to buy the insurance and then pay the NP registration fee.

Start at least four to five weeks before you intend to start work. Your application is only processed once all required documents are received, and all verifications of registration are valid for six months from the date of issue.

Practice hours

To qualify for NP registration you must meet one of these four conditions:

• Practised 900 hours as an NP in primary health care within the last three calendar years;
• Practised 300 hours as an NP in primary health care within the last 12 months;
• Graduated from an approved NP education program within the last three years; or
• Completed an NP re-entry program within the last three years.

New graduates qualify through the third condition. For ongoing registration, the College requires NPs to have practised a minimum of 900 NP hours within the previous three years.

Fees

The College's fee table, verified on the College's fees page, lists:

No refunds are issued for any fees paid to the College. Registration fees are reduced by 25% for holders of interjurisdictional licensure where the College is a "host" jurisdiction.

Step 5 — Renew every year by November 30

Registration certificates for both RNs and NPs expire on November 30 each year. Renewal is only available between October 1 and November 30; after that you must ask to reinstate your licence. The renewal fee is the same $375 plus taxes for a full year. Report all nursing hours worked, including hours with a secondary employer or in self-employment, when you renew.

What the opened pages do not state

The College's pages do not publish the CNPS insurance premium or the exam fee, so neither figure appears here; the insurance cost is set by the Canadian Nurses Protective Society and the exam fee is communicated directly to candidates by the exam vendor. The pages do not publish a processing time for the full NP application beyond the four-to-five-week lead time, so this guide states no decision timeline. This guide gives no advice on whether you qualify — that is the College's decision when it assesses your application.

Related guides:

• How to Become a Registered Nurse in New Brunswick — the RN registration you hold first, before the NP class.
• How to Become a Nurse Practitioner in Quebec — Quebec's different route: the OIIQ specialist's certificate and specialty examination, not the national exam.
• How to Become a Nurse Practitioner in Nova Scotia — the neighbouring province's NP route for comparison.
• How to Become a Licensed Practical Nurse in New Brunswick — the practical nurse route in the same province, a different profession from the NP class.
• How to Become a Nurse Practitioner in Manitoba — another province's NP registration route under the same national exam framework.

Sources

• College of Nursing of New Brunswick, Registration Requirements for NPs — NP is a registration class under the College, the approved program streams, the prescribing education requirement, the jurisprudence module, CNPS insurance, and the four practice-hour conditions.
• College of Nursing of New Brunswick, Apply to the Register — Canadian NPs — the application procedure, the four-to-five-week lead time, the criminal record check through CSI Screening, and the two-to-three-business-day insurance and payment step.
• College of Nursing of New Brunswick, Canadian NP Exam — the CNPLE as the single-entry national NP exam in New Brunswick, the February, May, June, and September sittings, online proctoring with testing sites in Moncton, Saint John, and Fredericton, the 6-week application lead time, results in 6 to 8 weeks, and temporary graduate NP registration while waiting for results.
• College of Nursing of New Brunswick, Fees, Hours and Transcripts — the NP registration fees, the $100 application processing fee, the 900-hour requirement, and the no-refunds rule.
• College of Nursing of New Brunswick, Registration Renewal — renewal between October 1 and November 30, and the practice-hour conditions for renewal.
• University of New Brunswick, Nursing — Graduate Studies — the Master of Nursing, Advanced Nurse Practitioner stream, 20 months full time, admission every second year, and the 3.3 grade point average requirement.
• University of New Brunswick, Master of Nursing Nurse Practitioner Preceptorship Handbook — eligibility for the CNPE Family/All Ages stream on graduation, the 700 clinical hours, and the 11-course program.