While you are enrolled in your pharmacy technician education program, you may practice in Ontario under the supervision of a Part A pharmacist or Part A pharmacy technician. For more information, refer to the Supervision of Pharmacy Personnel Policy.
If you have successfully completed a CCAPP-accredited Canadian pharmacy technician program, follow the steps below to register as a pharmacy technician in Ontario. Your education must be current when you submit any application for registration (i.e., within two years of graduation or successful completion of the PEBC Qualifying Exam). If you do not meet the currency of education requirement, your application will be referred to a panel of the Registration Committee.
Note: Graduates from programs holding “qualifying” accreditation status at the time of graduation are not considered to have met the educational requirement for registration with the College.
Step 1: College-administered Requirements
Create an online account with the College
- Login here or from the OCP homepage
- Pay the initial application fee
- Submit supporting documentation of your evidence of identity, your citizenship or status in Canada, and your education. If you graduated from a school in Ontario, OCP staff will confirm your education from the graduation list provided by these schools to the College; you do not have to submit your own evidence of education.
Register as an Intern Technician
- Obtain personal professional liability insurance
- Submit police background check
- Login to your account to apply
- Pay the application fee
- Enter and maintain your practice information in your OCP account under the Workplace tab for every site where you will be practicing as an intern technician
- Your intern technician certificate of registration is valid for one year and is required for you to perform the authorized acts of the profession. If your intern technician certificate expires before you register as a pharmacy technician and you wish to continue practicing the authorized acts, please contact [email protected]
Jurisprudence, Ethics and Professionalism Exam*
- Successfully complete the Jurisprudence, Ethics and Professionalism exam
- Login to your account to apply online
- Pay the exam fee
Practice Assessment of Competence at Entry (PACE)*
- Successfully complete PACE for pharmacy technician applicants
- Login to your account to apply
- Your intern technician certificate of registration must be valid while you are preparing for, applying for and completing PACE
Step 2: PEBC Qualifying Exam
- Successfully complete Parts I and II of the PEBC Qualifying Exam for pharmacy technicians*
- You may complete this exam at any point after you have graduated
- This exam is administered by the Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada
- You must submit your PEBC number to the College so that your results can be confirmed
Step 3: Final Application for Certificate of Registration as a Pharmacy Technician
- Obtain/maintain personal professional liability insurance
- Login to your account to apply
- Pay the final application fees
- Application fee
- New applicant registration fee
- Your police background check must be current to proceed
- If more than two years have passed since you graduated or successfully completed the PEBC Qualifying Exam, your application will be referred to a panel of the Registration Committee for not meeting the currency of education requirement.
- Update your personal and practice information, including identifying a Designated Practice Assessment (DPA) site in Ontario
Time & Cost Estimates
Many of the requirements for registration have expiry dates to ensure that your knowledge, skills and judgment are current at the time of your final application. The Fees & Timelines chart lists all registration-related fees and timelines to help you anticipate the time and costs required to register as a pharmacy technician in Ontario.
Applicants who plan ahead to meet application timelines and complete each of the requirements in the minimum time could complete their registration process within six months.
Estimated fees paid to OCP are $884 plus the annual fee. These fees are outlined in the Schedule of Fees.
Estimated fees paid to third parties are $1,850 plus the annual liability insurance premium.
*Non-exemptible requirement