Canada · Qualifying examWhat do pharmacy technicians do, in NAPRA's words?
NAPRA's Model Standards of Practice (published February 2022) give these as the kinds of work technicians do:
- Verifying the technical aspects of new and refill prescriptions
- Preparing prescriptions: computer processing, selecting, counting, measuring, packaging and labelling
- Compounding drug preparations
- Gathering patient information and completing medication histories
- Teaching patients how to use medical devices
- Completing documentation and keeping pharmacy records
- Supporting pharmacists in other ways, such as preparing or giving injections
What's left to the pharmacist
NAPRA's standards split some tasks. A technician can give a medication or do a point-of-care test once the pharmacist has confirmed it's appropriate; deciding whether it's appropriate is the pharmacist's job. Only a pharmacist makes sure a prescription is therapeutically right for the patient before it's released, and changes or adapts therapy.
A technician gathers lab results and health records to inform the pharmacist's assessment, rather than doing that assessment.
Scope of practice: the Ontario example
The Ontario College of Pharmacists says a registered technician is accountable for the technical aspects of dispensing and can check any prescription for technical accuracy and completeness. Every prescription still needs both a technical and a therapeutic check before release. Technicians who finish an approved injection course can give the vaccines the regulation lists.
Ontario technicians can't give drug information or education that needs therapeutic knowledge or clinical assessment. Other provinces' rules differ, so read your own regulator's standards.
Hospital and community pharmacy
The College of Pharmacists of BC says technicians can work in every setting with a pharmacy, including community, hospital and long-term care. In Ontario, a technician in a community pharmacy works under a pharmacist's direct supervision, and in other settings, hospitals included, a pharmacist must supervise them.
Sources: NAPRA · PEBC · OCP and 2 more. Checked October 2026.
- NAPRA: Model Standards of Practice for Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians in Canada, 2022 (PDF) ↗
- PEBC: 2026 blueprint chart, Ver. 03-2026 (PDF) ↗
- OCP: Scope of practice, pharmacy technicians ↗
- OCP: Supervision of Pharmacy Personnel Policy (effective October 1, 2024) ↗
- CPBC: Is everyone who works behind the pharmacy counter a pharmacist? ↗
Rules and fees can change, so check the official site before your test.