How to Become a Registered Psychiatric Nurse in Manitoba

The short answer

To become a Registered Psychiatric Nurse (RPN) in Manitoba, you complete Brandon University's four-year Bachelor of Science in Psychiatric Nursing (BScPN), establish eligibility for registration with the College of Registered Psychiatric Nurses of Manitoba (CRPNM), pass the Registered Psychiatric Nurses of Canada Examination (RPNCE), and register on the RPN Register. The usual route takes four years of study, then an exam sitting in January, May or October. This guide covers the registration process only — it is not medical advice, and it does not assess whether you are suited to nursing.

RPN is a distinct regulated profession in Manitoba, not a branch of registered nursing. Manitoba has three nursing professions — licensed practical nurses, registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses — each with its own regulator and its own education program. Psychiatric nursing is regulated as its own profession in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Yukon Territory; in the other provinces, psychiatric nursing is practised under the Registered Nurse designation. Do not enrol in a general Bachelor of Science in Nursing expecting it to lead to RPN registration — it leads to the RN route and the NCLEX-RN, not the RPNCE.

Step 1: Complete the Brandon University BScPN

The education requirement is a psychiatric nursing program approved for Manitoba — in practice, Brandon University's Bachelor of Science in Psychiatric Nursing (BScPN), a four-year program in the Faculty of Health Studies, offered on the main campus in Brandon and at the satellite campus in Winnipeg. Brandon University's admission page sets out the two-stage entry: first the Pre-Psychiatric Nursing year, then admission to Year 2 of the BScPN.

For Year 2, each Pre-Psychiatric Nursing course must be completed with a C grade or higher and an overall admission GPA of 2.5 is required. Admission is ranked: 70% on GPA in the Pre-Psychiatric Nursing courses and 30% on Casper test results. You must be at least 18 by the application deadline for Year 2, and you must show satisfactory completion of a university-level Indigenous course (or one of the named online equivalents), a Manitoba Child Abuse Registry Check, a Manitoba Adult Abuse Registry Check and a Criminal Record Check with Vulnerable Sector Check, each current within 6 months, plus an immunization record and an IELTS assessment if applicable. Year 2 seats are limited to 35 students in Brandon and 60 in Winnipeg, and you must apply by May 1 of the year you want to enter. Biology 40S and Math 40S Pre-Calculus or Applied are highly recommended in high school, because they are prerequisites for Anatomy and Physiology and Introduction to Statistics.

Step 2: Establish eligibility for registration with CRPNM

If you are in the final term of the psychiatric nursing program and have started, or are about to start, the final practicum, you must establish eligibility for registration with CRPNM before applying to write the RPNCE. CRPNM's page for Manitoba graduates lists what establishing eligibility involves:

• Completing an online application form through the Applicant Portal.
• Providing proof of identity — a birth certificate and picture identification — plus documentation for any and all name changes.
• Providing a criminal records check that includes a Vulnerable Sector Search, and a child and adult abuse registry check — together called the Background Checks — current within 6 months.
• Submitting an initial application fee of $105.00.
• Confirmation of program completion from Brandon University, using the form CRPNM provides: you fill out Section A and forward it to Brandon University, which sends the confirmation to CRPNM directly.

Apply for the background checks early — CRPNM warns that processing times vary, and a late check can mean missing the exam application deadline. Documents can be submitted electronically to the CRPNM Administrative Assistant, or dropped off at 210 Commerce Drive in Winnipeg. Scanned copies or photographs are accepted if they are in colour, clearly legible, and show both sides of the document, even if the back page is blank.

Step 3: Apply to write the RPNCE

To apply to write the exam, you apply for initial registration with CRPNM through the Applicant Portal, and you must complete the Examination Information record there — that is also where you indicate a request for a testing accommodation, if you need one. CRPNM then submits your exam information to its exam provider, Meazure Learning. The exam is the Registered Psychiatric Nurses of Canada Examination (RPNCE), a multiple-choice, computer-based test designed to test entry-level competence and safety to practise. It is the property of the Registered Psychiatric Nurse Regulators of Canada (RPNRC), the body made up of the four western RPN regulators. Note the name: Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia call it the RPNCE, while Alberta calls the same exam the RPNC Exam. It is one exam, not two.

You must get your application, payment and required documents to CRPNM on time — eight weeks before the examination date. If you miss the deadline, you cannot write that sitting and must wait for the next one. If you need a testing accommodation, contact CRPNM as soon as possible: it can take up to 12 weeks to assess an accommodation request, and you will be asked for documentation from a qualified health professional.

Step 4: Pay for the exam and write it

Seven weeks before the exam, Meazure Learning sends you an email with instructions to register and pay for the exam and to select your preferred exam location, from a pre-determined list in Manitoba, British Columbia, Alberta or Saskatchewan. You have a seven-day window to purchase the exam — if you do not buy it within that window, you cannot write that sitting. Four weeks before the exam, Meazure Learning sends a confirmation email with your exam date, location, exam and venue rules, and confirmation of any accommodations. Once your date and location are booked, they cannot be changed.

The exam fee is $695 + tax per attempt, paid to Meazure Learning when you register for the exam. That figure is stated on CRPNA's RPNC exam page for the same national exam and the same provider. The exam itself is about 200 multiple-choice questions in up to four hours, with no scheduled breaks — unscheduled breaks come out of your four hours. You are admitted up to 30 minutes after the start, with no extra time; arrive more than 30 minutes late and you cannot write and forfeit the fee. If you withdraw less than 10 days before the exam date, you forfeit the exam fee.

The RPNCE is offered three times a year, in January, May and October. Results are released in 4 to 6 weeks, by email from CRPNM, as pass or fail rather than a score. You can attempt the exam three times within four years of graduation from an approved program. If you are not successful on your third attempt, you must complete an approved psychiatric nursing refresher program before any further attempts. You can apply to have an exam rescored up to 12 weeks after exam day, for a fee.

Step 5: Move to practising registration

Once you have passed the RPNCE, you register on the RPN Register. CRPNM's RPN Register page directs you to log in to the Online Self-Service Portal and complete your payment in the applications section. Your criminal records and child and adult abuse registry checks must still be current within 6 months. Registration must occur within forty-eight months of passing the RPNCE — after that, further requirements apply. CRPNM's by-laws pro-rate registration fees by dividing the year into quarters, so the amount you pay depends on when in the year you register.

If you held graduate registration while waiting to write the exam, passing the exam is what moves you to the practising register — you are not required to register as a Graduate Psychiatric Nurse in the first place, but you cannot practise until you have passed the RPNCE and are on the Registered Psychiatric Nurse register.

Coming to Manitoba from another province or country

If you trained outside Canada, start with the National Nursing Assessment Service. CRPNM's page for internationally educated psychiatric nurses states that you must apply to NNAS first and can only apply to CRPNM after the NNAS process is complete. You must have graduated from a basic psychiatric nursing education program that meets CRPNM's criteria for classroom and clinical hours, and CRPNM publishes those criteria so you can self-assess before spending money on an application. The immigration process is separate from registration — approval to immigrate does not mean you are qualified to work as a psychiatric nurse, and the reverse is also true — so CRPNM advises working on both at the same time. NNAS's RPN pathway page lists CRPNM as a participating regulator and sets out its four steps: create an account, submit information and pay fees, submit documents, and receive the Advisory Report, which is issued in 12 weeks once all documents are received, provided no further clarification is needed.

If you want to write the RPNCE in another province, you can: the exam is available in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and you select your preferred location when you pay Meazure Learning. But you still apply for registration with the regulatory body in the province where your education program is located.

Mistakes that stall Manitoba RPN applications

The most common stall is a late background check — the criminal records check and the child and adult abuse registry checks must be current within 6 months, and processing times vary, so apply for them early rather than at the end. The second is missing the eight-week application deadline before the exam date, which costs you the whole sitting. The third is missing the seven-day exam purchase window after Meazure Learning emails you — the exam is not yours until you pay, and a missed window is a missed sitting. And do not confuse the RPN with the RN route: a general nursing degree puts you on the NCLEX-RN path, not the RPNCE path, and switching later means a further program, not a paperwork change.

What registration costs

CRPNM's fee schedule, opened for this review, sets the 2027 figures. The RPN Certificate of Practice fee for 2027 is $749 plus GST ($786.45), pro-rated by the quarter you apply in: $786.45 for January 1 to March 31, $589.84 for April 1 to June 30, $393.22 for July 1 to September 30, and $196.61 for October 1 to December 31. On top of that, the 2027 Canadian Nurses Protective Society professional liability protection fee is $68 plus GST ($71.40). Graduate Psychiatric Nurse registration for 2027 is $185 plus GST ($194.25), and the Certificate of Registration fee is $50 plus GST ($52.50). Internationally educated applicants pay a $250 plus GST ($262.50) online application fee and NNAS Advisory Report assessment. All fees are non-refundable, and a 2% surcharge applies to credit card payments.

What the opened pages do not state

The CRPNM fee schedule now states the 2027 practising registration fee — see "What registration costs" above. The pages still do not state a rescore fee, so this guide states none. The pages also do not publish a current exam sitting calendar beyond the January, May and October pattern, so check CRPNM's fees-and-dates page for the next sitting's application deadline before you plan around a date. This guide gives no advice on whether you qualify — that is CRPNM's decision when it assesses your application.

Related guides:

• How to Become a Registered Nurse in Manitoba — the RN companion: a different designation, a different exam, and a different provincial regulator.
• How to Become a Licensed Practical Nurse in Manitoba — the LPN companion, for the third nursing designation in Manitoba.
• How to Become a Nurse Practitioner in Manitoba — the nurse practitioner route, an additional registration class on top of RN.
• How to Become a Registered Psychiatric Nurse in British Columbia — the same RPN designation under British Columbia's regulator, with the same national exam.
• How to Become a Psychologist in Canada — Doctoral vs Master’s Routes, Supervised Practice, the EPPP, and Provincial Registration — the neighbouring mental-health profession, with a doctoral or master's route and provincial registration.

Sources

• College of Registered Psychiatric Nurses of Manitoba, Manitoba Graduates — establishing eligibility for registration, the $105.00 initial application fee, the background checks current within 6 months, and the Brandon University confirmation of program completion.
• College of Registered Psychiatric Nurses of Manitoba, Fee Schedule — the 2027 RPN Certificate of Practice fee of $749 plus GST with quarterly pro-rating, the 2027 CNPS fee of $68 plus GST, the 2027 Graduate Psychiatric Nurse fee, the Certificate of Registration fee, and the internationally educated applicant fee.
• College of Registered Psychiatric Nurses of Manitoba, Registration Exam — the RPNCE as the approved exam since 2012, offered three times a year in January, May and October, and the Meazure Learning payment and seven-day purchase window.
• College of Registered Psychiatric Nurses of Manitoba, RPNCE Frequently Asked Questions — the four-hour, approximately 200-question exam, the three-attempt limit, graduate registration rules, the eight-week application deadline, and results in 4 to 6 weeks.
• College of Registered Psychiatric Nurses of Manitoba, RPN Register — registering on the RPN Register through the Online Self-Service Portal and the 48-month rule after passing the RPNCE.
• College of Registered Psychiatric Nurses of Manitoba, Internationally Educated Psychiatric Nurses — NNAS first, then CRPNM; the three Manitoba nursing professions; and psychiatric nursing regulated in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Yukon Territory.
• Brandon University, Admission to the BScPN Program — the four-year BScPN in Brandon and Winnipeg, Year 2 admission with a C grade or higher and a 2.5 GPA, the 70% GPA and 30% Casper split, the 35 and 60 seat limits, and the May 1 application deadline.
• College of Registered Psychiatric Nurses of Alberta, RPNC Exam — the $695 + tax exam fee per attempt, paid to Meazure Learning for the same national exam.
• National Nursing Assessment Service, Registered Psychiatric Nurse Pathway — CRPNM as a participating regulator, the four NNAS steps, and the Advisory Report issued in 12 weeks once all documents are received.