National Conference 2024
January 17th - 20th, 2024 - Edmonton, Alberta
The Canadian Nursing Students’ Association is excited to announce our upcoming National Conference will be taking place in-person in Edmonton, Alberta at the Sandman Signature Edmonton Downtown Hotel from Wednesday, January 17th to Saturday, January 20th, 2024!
What is the CNSA National Conference?
The National Conference is the CNSA’s most anticipated annual event, which brings together nursing students from all across Canada to advance their nursing knowledge and leadership skills by participating in various educational speaker sessions and interactive workshops!
Theme
The theme of the 2024 National Conference is “Nursing Without Limits: Exploring the Endless Opportunities.” We will be showcasing nurses who practice in a wide range of specialties at the bedside, as well as nurses who work outside the clinical settings in the areas of research, education, policymaking, and more!
The Conference
We are excited to present multiple interactive sessions, including nursing specialty “speed dating,” how to become a Nurse Practitioner, knowing your rights as a nursing student, getting involved in nursing research, and navigating the transition from nursing student to a new graduate nurse.
Besides the exciting speakers and workshops we have planned, there are more reasons to be excited for the National Conference:
National Assembly: On the final day of the conference, nursing students will be coming together to bring forward Position & Resolution statements to be debated and adopted by the CNSA, as well as to run for positions on the Board of Directors
Exhibitors: Nursing unions and professional nursing associations will be exhibiting at the conference to educate nursing students about their organizations. Recruiters will also be coming in from across the country to promote employment opportunities available after graduating!
Scholarly Showcase: an annual event that gives nursing students the opportunity to display and present research & projects they have been working on
Networking & Social Events: the conference will be an excellent opportunity to connect with nursing students from all over Canada and participate in fun social events, such as a gala dinner on the final night of the conference!
How to Attend the 2024 National Conference
Registration
The early-bird ticket price to register for the 2024 CNSA National Conference is set at $150.00 per student. This cost will cover snacks, coffee, and lunches throughout the duration of the conference, as well as a banquet dinner on the final day of the conference! To get tickets and register for the conference, please visit: https://site.pheedloop.com/event/cnsa/home. Registration closes Friday December 29th, 2023.
Compared to the last in-person CNSA conference held in Montreal in January 2020 where the registration price was set at $220.00, the upcoming registration cost is significantly subsidized to ensure the first in-person CNSA National Conference held in four years will be as accessible as possible.
Accommodations
The conference will be taking place at the Sandman Signature Edmonton Downtown Hotel, located right in the heart of the city beside major attractions such as Rogers Place arena, home of the Edmonton Oilers, as well as the Royal Alberta Museum and the Art Gallery of Alberta.
We have an agreement with the Sandman Hotel to secure rooms at a discounted rate of $159.00 a night. The National Conference (tentatively) commences at 5:30pm on Wednesday, January 17th, so hotel rooms will be available for check in on the 17th, with checkout being anytime on Sunday, January 21st.
In the past, attendees from the same school would have 2-4 students per room to reduce costs, so we encourage you to check in with students to see if there’d be interest for that. To book hotel reservations, please visit: https://reservations.sandmanhotels.com/113066?groupID=4086224
How to Fund conference attendance
There are many ways of accessing funding to offset the costs of attending the 2024 National Conference! The best way is reaching out to your nursing school to determine how much funding they have available to sponsor conference attendance. The vast majority of nursing schools have funded students to go to our in-person National Conferences prior to the pandemic, thus recommend the CNSA Official and Associate Delegates reach out to their respective schools to determine how much budgeted funds are available to support student conference attendance. Your school’s Students’ Unions could also be a source of funding as they may have grants or scholarships available to support conference attendance for students.
In the situation your nursing school or Students’ Union is unable to sponsor students to attend in the 2024 National Conference, there are still ways to access funding. The CNSA along with some provincial nursing unions and provincial associations are able to fund a limited number of students’ attendance to the National Conference, and more information on how to apply to access these funds will be updated soon.
Missed Clinical Time
Given the educational nature of this conference, the majority of nursing schools have a policy of permitting students to miss class & clinical placements to attend this event. Please refer to your individual schools to determine how they can support your attendance, as some schools count conference participation directly towards class & clinical time, whereas other schools require that you speak with your instructors on an individual basis to determine how to make up for any missed class & clinical time.
There will be a great opportunity to discuss the National Conference in the upcoming regional meetings that will occur virtually later this month (expect emails from your specific regional director about the date and time soon). In the meantime, please email conference@cnsa.ca if you have any questions or concerns! We look forward to seeing everyone in Edmonton next year!
