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Nurse practitioner scopes of practice vary across Canada’s provinces and territories

Back to Nurse practitioner scopes of practice in Canada, 2020

Text version of infographic

Scopes of practice for NPs

N.L.

P.E.I.

N.S.

N.B.

Que.

Ont.

Man.

Sask.

Alta.

B.C.

N.W.T. and Nun.
 
Independent therapeutic management
Conduct advanced health assessment and diagnosis Full Full Full Full Restricted Full Full Full Full Full Full
Order and interpret diagnostic tests Restricted Full Full Full Full Restricted Full Restricted Full Full Full
Consult with and refer to other health care professionals Full Full Full Full Full Full Full Full Full Full Full
Roster and manage patients Full Full Full Full Restricted Restricted Full Full Full Full n/a
Pharmacotherapy
Prescribe pharmacotherapy Full Full Full Full Full Full Full Full Full Restricted Full
Prescribe controlled substances Full Full Full Restricted Restricted Full Full Full Restricted Full Full
Treatment/advanced interventions
Prescribe medical supplies Full Full Full Full Full Restricted Full Restricted Full Full Full
Other advanced scope activities
Have full hospital privileges Restricted Restricted Restricted Restricted Out of scope Full Full Restricted Restricted Full Full
Admit to long-term care facilities Restricted Full Full Full Out of scope Out of scope Full Restricted Restricted Full Full

Complete Form 1 for involuntary admission to hospital

 Full Full Restricted Out of scope Out of scope Out of scope Restricted Restricted Restricted Out of scope Full

Notes

n/a: Data is not available or not applicable.
Data from Yukon was not available.
This publication includes the status of scopes of practice for nurse practitioners (NPs) in participating provinces and territories as of March 2020. Any updates made to scopes after March 2020 are not reflected.
This visualization shows the status of selected scopes of practice for NPs. For the status of additional scope items, please refer to Nurse Practitioner Scopes of Practice in Canada, 2020 — Data Table.
Full scope of practice refers to legislation allowing NPs to perform the identified activity without any constraints.
Restricted scope of practice refers to legislation or regulatory policy limiting the ability of NPs to perform the identified activity. Restricted scope also includes reduced scope responses.
Out of scope refers to legislation prohibiting an NP from performing the identified activity.
For detailed notes, please refer to Nurse Practitioner Scopes of Practice in Canada, 2020 — Data Table.

 

Sources

Regulatory bodies and professional associations for NPs in each province and territory in Canada.

How to cite this document:
Canadian Institute for Health Information. Nurse practitioner scopes of practice vary across Canada's provinces and territories [infographic]. Ottawa, ON: CIHI; 2020.

Copyright 2020 Canadian Institute for Health Information

Back to Nurse practitioner scopes of practice in Canada, 2020

How to cite:

Canadian Institute for Health Information. Nurse practitioner scopes of practice vary across Canada’s provinces and territories. Accessed April 24, 2025.