All applicants seeking to be registered with the College of Naturopaths of Ontario (the College), except NDs currently registered and practising in another regulated Canadian jurisdiction, must first complete the College’s Ontario Clinical Sciences Examination. The exam replaced the NPLEX II exam on April 1, 2019, and must be successfully completed in order to be eligible to be registered with the College.

Applicants for registration who have successfully completed the Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) Program will have completed this exam as part of that program. A second pass is not required.

Exam Content and Structure

The Ontario Clinical Sciences Examination is a 200 multiple-choice, 4-hour exam administered electronically via licensed testing centres or through an online proctoring platform. It consists of a combination of case-based and stand-alone questions, which test clinical readiness and emphasize a candidate’s ability to apply knowledge and critical thinking.

Information about testable content is available in the Ontario Clinical Sciences Examination Reference Guide. The March 2022 version of the examination blueprint includes the competencies and weighting tested in each content area. Additional procedural information about the exam is available in the Ontario Clinical Sciences and Ontario Biomedical Exams Handbook.

Upcoming exams—Ontario Clinical Sciences Exam

To register for the August 14, 2025, session of the Ontario Clinical Sciences Examination (being administered online), please complete the steps below:  

1. Log in to your College account (if this is your first entry-to-practise exam with the College, please refer to the first time candidates section below). 
2. From your College account dashboard, under the ‘Register for an Exam’ header, locate the August 14, 2025, Ontario Clinical Sciences Examination and click on the green ‘+’ icon next to the exam session. 
3. Pay for the exam online using your credit card via your College account cart. If you prefer to make the payment by cheque or money order, it must be made payable to the “College of Naturopaths of Ontario”.   
4. Complete and submit the following online forms: (a) Exam Registration Form and (b) Online Clinical Sciences Examination Agreement.  

Exam forms and fee must be received by the exam registration deadline of July 3, 2025, at 5 p.m. ET.   

To maintain registration for this session of the Ontario Clinical Sciences Examination, you must also book an exam time with Meazure Learning, the College’s partnered test administration company, during their booking window (opens 9 a.m. ET on July 24, 2025, and closes 11:59 p.m. ET on July 31, 2025). Meazure Learning will email candidates directly by July 21, 2025, with detailed booking instructions.  

Failure to submit required documents, the exam fee or to book your exam time by the deadlines noted will result in being ineligible to sit the exam session and forfeiture of the exam fee paid.  

For information on all fees and the exam schedule, including timetables and exam transcript release dates, please see our Ontario Clinical Sciences Examination Schedule and Fees page.

 

First Time Candidates 

If this is your first time registering for an examination with the College, you must first create a College user account by clicking on the “Sign Up” option, complete the online pre-registration application form and submit a copy of valid photo ID before you can register for an exam. We recommend completing these steps at least five days prior to the date when exam registration is set to open.  For additional information please review the Ontario Clinical Sciences and Ontario Biomedical Examination Handbook.

For information on upcoming examination sessions, including examination dates and registration window, please see our Ontario Clinical Sciences Exam Schedule and Fees page.