Professional Liability Protection
The Licensed Practical Nurses Act requires that every CLPNM registrant obtain and maintain the minimum amount of liability protection that is prescribed by the CLPNM Board of Directors.
As of December 1, 2023, the liability protection that Manitoba’s Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) and Graduate Practical Nurses (GPNs) must hold is the professional liability protection made available by the Canadian Nurses Protective Society (CNPS) with a minimum limit of protection of five (5) Million dollars.
For LPNs and GPNs, obtaining and maintaining CNPS liability protection is an obligation to maintain registration with the CLPNM. Liability protection is in the public interest, as it provides recourse for the public in the event of malpractice.
Note: if you renewed your LPN registration with the CLPNM before November 30, 2023, you are covered for the period December 1, 2023 to November 30, 2024.
See below for more information.
Frequently Asked Questions
All Manitoba GPNs and LPNs will need to create a MyCNPS account to register for CNPS Professional Liability Protection (PLP) and Core Services. With a MyCNPS account, you will have easy access to your CNPS registrations, eligibility details, and receipts. You must complete the CNPS registration before starting your CLPNM registration or renewal application.
- Create a MyCNPS Account
- Register for CNPS PLP and Core Services
- Complete your CLPNM registration or renewal application
Your successful CNPS registration will be confirmed automatically with the CLPNM as part of your CLPNM registration application or renewal process. It is important that you complete CNPS PLP and Core Services registration first, as the CLPNM registration system will conduct an automatic verification with the CNPS to confirm that you have fulfilled the CNPS requirement before allowing you to proceed with your application.
Note: if you renewed your registration prior to November 30, 2023, you are covered for the period December 1, 2023 to November 30, 2024.
CNPS is a not-for-profit society that offers legal advice, risk-management services, risk management education, legal assistance, and professional liability protection related to nursing practice in Canada.
The CNPS is not an insurance company, but a legal support system created by nurses, for nurses. CNPS assistance is provided on a discretionary basis and all requests for legal assistance are considered on a case-by-case basis, taking account of your specific needs, and in some circumstances, the resources available to you from your employer or your union. This approach allows the CNPS to offer assistance in a broader range of circumstances in which legal support is appropriate to protect the public and the integrity of your nursing practice, including some of the unusual and unpredictable circumstances that can arise.
Information about CNPS can be found on their website at: www.cnps.ca
A profession-specific liability protection provider, such as CNPS, is ideally positioned to monitor, advise and assist Manitoba LPNs in managing risks associated with the practice of nursing in Canada.
Manitoba’s Registered Nurses have benefited from profession-specific professional liability protection through the CNPS for decades. Manitoba’s Registered Psychiatric Nurses have been required to have access to CNPS professional liability protection since 2020 as well. With this change, all of Manitoba’s nursing professions will have similar access to professional liability protection and legal resources.
CNPS beneficiaries are eligible for:
- Legal advice about professional obligations and professional liability issues
- Professional liability protection and assistance with legal proceedings* up to $10M per claim**
- Assistance with a range of other legal proceedings up to $1 million
- Risk management education to assist nurses in proactively addressing risks in their practice that could lead to liability claims
Assistance is made available by the CNPS on a case-by-case basis, taking account of your specific needs, and in some circumstances, the resources available to you from your employer or your union.
*Core Services discussed here do not extend to legal assistance with complaints made to the regulator. The CNPS Supplementary Protection program is available for those who wish to extend their eligibility for assistance to regulatory complaints at an added cost.
**Consult the CNPS website for details.
With the CNPS, professional liability protection is now offered through an organization well-positioned to counsel LPNs and GPNs about the legal aspects and risks associated with nursing in Canada. Manitoba LPNs and GPNs have access to professional liability protection and legal assistance similar to that which is available to Manitoba’s other nursing professions (RNs, NPs, and RPNs).
Manitoba LPNs and GPNs have access to a higher limit of professional liability protection as a beneficiary of the CNPS compared with the insurance policy that was in place prior to December 1, 2023.
Feature | CNPS | Former Coverage |
Claim Limit (civil proceeding and risk management) | $10 million | $2 million |
In addition, CNPS liability protection is occurrence-based. The former coverage was claims-made. With an occurrence-based program, if a claim is made regarding an occurrence that took place when an LPN was practising and a CNPS beneficiary, the LPN will remain eligible to request CNPS assistance with the defence of that claim even if, at the time of the claim, they are no longer practising.
CNPS beneficiaries are also eligible for CNPS assistance with other types of legal proceedings arising from nursing practice, including criminal investigations, criminal prosecutions, Coroner’s investigations, human rights complaints and allegations of privacy breach. Please note that the CNPS will not pay fines and other penalties that are imposed further to an investigation, or as part of a sanction. For more information, please see https://cnps.ca/services/plp-core/ or contact the CNPS.
Nurses who are registered for CNPS Core Services (which includes professional liability protection) are referred to CNPS beneficiaries.
More information about CNPS Core Services and Professional Liability Protection is available on the CNPS website
The CLPNM has entered into an agreement with CNPS so that CLPNM can ensure that every member will have access to an appropriate form of professional liability protection while they are a practising registrant. The added benefit is that CLPNM members will benefit from a more favorable group rate.
For the 2023-2024 membership year, each practising CLPNM member (LPN or GPN) will pay an annual fee of $48, plus a transitional fee of $25 (for the first five years), for a total of $73 plus GST. The basic individual annual unit fee of $48 is reassessed every year and could be adjusted from year to year if necessary, depending on the number of claims and the cost of defending claims.
A further benefit is that the liability protection will be made available on an occurrence basis, which means that as long as you were a CNPS beneficiary at the time the incident occurred, you remain eligible for CNPS assistance. The CNPS will also extend your eligibility for CNPS professional liability protection to all incidents that may have occurred as part of your duly licensed nursing practice while you were a practising member on the CLPNM registry, provided that those incidents occurred on or after March 29, 1988, and that the claim arising from those incidents is commenced after December 1, 2023*. An additional fee has therefore been applied systematically to the agreement for the first five years so that Manitoba LPNs can fairly access the funds to which other organizations have been contributing for over 30 years.
* Some restrictions apply to COVID-related claims. Please contact the CNPS for further details.
The CLPNM operates to serve and protect the public interest. If LPNs are not adequately protected, the public does not have access to adequate recourse in the event of LPN malpractice. Section 25 of Licensed Practical Nurses Regulation states:
Every member shall obtain and maintain the minimum amount of liability protection that is prescribed by the board.
There is a similar provision in The Regulated Health Professions Act.
No. CNPS provides individual professional liability protection related to the practice of nursing. Additional business coverage is still required.
No. Section 25 of Licensed Practical Nurses Regulation states:
Every member shall obtain and maintain the minimum amount of liability protection that is prescribed by the board.
The protection prescribed by the CLPNM Board of Directors is a requirement for registration.
Although it is required, the CLPNM hopes registrants will recognize the benefits of this level of protection.
Students are regulated by the CLPNM, but the CLPNM will not require SPNs to register for CNPS professional liability protection. Some of the reasons for this decision include:
- SPN practice is different and very limited. SPNs practise only as part of an education program and are always under supervision from another regulated nurse.
- Educational institutions have insurance.
- Facilities have insurance.
