About Us
CASN Accreditation
The Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing is the national accrediting body for nursing education in Canada. In 1987, the organization accredited its first undergraduate program. Since then, the accreditation of nursing education programs in Canada has become a core function of CASN, which reviews over a dozen schools every year. In 1994, CASN became a co-founder of the Association of Accrediting Agencies of Canada, a national association representing accrediting bodies of over 20 professions and other accrediting organizations. Since its inception, CASN Accreditation has established the following accreditation programs:
- Baccalaureate Nursing Education Program Accreditation (BScN) (1987)
- Internationally Educated Nurse Bridging Program Accreditation (IEN) (2017)
- Nurse Practitioner Program Accreditation (NP) (2022)
- Practical Nurse Program Accreditation (PN) (2023)
- International Nursing Education Program Accreditation (INT) (2025)
Accreditation promotes excellence and is recognized worldwide as an important, objective method to assess professional education programs. It identifies strengths and opportunities for improvement that can guide decision making. The process provides administrators and faculty with information regarding areas that require development, modification, and/or resources.
The program of accreditation sets forth overarching quality dimensions, standards, descriptors, and key elements against which nursing education programs are assessed while also incorporating flexibility regarding the organizational structure and curriculum. This flexibility enables programs to be autonomous in their academic perspectives and responsive to their regional, social, professional, and institutional contexts.
The CASN accreditation program is built on the original philosophy and approach of previous programs. It undergoes regular review and enhancement. This is consistent with a constant quality improvement approach. Recent changes to the accreditation program accommodate evolution of distance education, collaborative partnerships, virtual reviews, and new program models within a new framework and with expanded standards.
For more information on our accreditation program, please contact Layal Bou Abdo, Managing Director, Accreditation and Evaluation <lbou-abdo@casn.ca>.