In 2004/2005, the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) launched a critical care transformation strategy with a goal to enhance service delivery through improved access, quality and system resource management. Health human resources planning was seen as essential to the success of the strategy, particularly recruitment, education/training and retention of critical care nurses. A nursing task group was invited to articulate core competencies and practice standards that can be applied across Ontario's adult ICUs and to make recommendations for implementation and the training needed to encourage compliance with the initiative. In this article, the opportunity to position nursing within the Ontario MOHLTC vision is described, as well as the work undertaken to prepare for a province-wide approach to critical care nursing education and training.