Feedback deadline is: 4:00 PM on March 7, 2026
Summary
Currently, pharmacists in Ontario (including interns and emergency assignment pharmacists) who administer injections must register their injection training with the College and maintain valid certification in CPR and First Aid equivalent to St. John Ambulance or Red Cross Standard First Aid & CPR/AED Level C and is consistent with national standards of practice.
To date, CPR and First Aid training is recommended, but not required for pharmacy technicians who are injection trained. CPR and First Aid training courses typically take 1 to 2 days to complete (recertifications take less time), are valid for up to 3 years, and on average cost less than $200.
At its December 8, 2025 meeting, the Ontario College of Pharmacists’ Board of Directors approved, for the purposes of seeking feedback through an open consultation, a mandatory requirement that all pharmacy technicians (including intern technicians) administering injections (as per Schedule 3 of Ontario Regulation 256/24, under the Pharmacy Act, 1991) complete and maintain up-to-date CPR and First Aid training.
This proposed requirement supports the safe implementation of expanded scope of practice activities which would allow, if approved by government, pharmacy technicians (including intern technicians) to administer all vaccines listed in Schedule 3 of Ontario Regulation 256/24, under the Pharmacy Act, 1991. This requirement will better protect the public if adverse reactions occur following a vaccination and will standardize expectations among regulated pharmacy professionals who are administering injections.
Proposed Changes and Background
- The College is seeking input on a proposed new requirement that all pharmacy technicians and intern technicians who administer injections be certified in CPR and First Aid (equivalent to St. John Ambulance or Red Cross Standard First Aid & CPR/AED Level C). Proposed expanded scope changes will allow intern technicians to have the authority to administer all vaccines listed in Schedule 3 of General Regulation 256/24 under the Pharmacy Act, 1991 on a date to be determined by government.
- The timing of implementation would align with implementation of expanded scope activities (to be determined by government).
- Time and cost commitments for training will be the responsibility of registrants and/or their employers.
- This requirement would be implemented as a self-declaration embedded within the injection training declaration in the registrant’s OCP profile. The updated declaration will state: “I have successfully completed an OCP-approved injection training course and training in the administration of Red Cross Standard First Aid and CPR ‘C’ + AED (or equivalent) and will maintain valid certification for the duration of my authorization.”
- Current requirements for CPR and First Aid training among pharmacists are stipulated in the Administering a Substance by Injection Guideline, under section 2, Assess their competency and certifications. A draft amended guideline is included (see below under Helpful Links) for review as part of this consultation and has been amended to ONLY indicate the requirement for CPR and First Aid certification for pharmacy technicians (changes are highlighted).
How You Can Provide Your Input
You are invited to provide feedback by March 7, 2026, at 4 p.m.
Consider the following questions when providing your feedback:
- How can this new requirement be implemented effectively?
- What are the benefits of this new requirement for pharmacy technicians?
- Are there any potential barriers to compliance the College should be aware of?
The feedback we receive via the online form or email is published publicly in accordance with our posting guidelines. Please allow 1-3 business days for your feedback to be published. Under the guidelines, the College has the right to refuse to publish or remove comments that do not meet the posting guidelines. All comments provided as part of the consultation, whether published or not, will be reviewed and considered as part of the analysis provided to the Board.
Next Steps
Information gathered from this consultation will be brought to the Board of Directors meeting in March 2026 for discussion and final approval of this requirement, and implementation.
Final government approval and confirmation of the related regulatory change is needed to inform the implementation timeline of this new requirement.
Helpful Links
- Draft amended Administering a Substance by Injection Guideline
- DISCLAIMER: The Ontario government has not authorized the proposed scope of practice expansions as of the date of this consultation. Therefore the amendment to the guideline ONLY reflects the requirement of CPR and First Aid for pharmacy technicians and intern technicians.
- OCP Public Consultation on Expanded Scope of Practice
- Posting guidelines and consultation process
- Expanding scope of practice webpage, including FAQs
Read The Feedback
Fully support the proposal for CPR requirement and first aid for techs who will be involved in administering injections.
I think it’s important, saving people should not be optional
If you are engaged in a professional activity where there is risk of reactions that require CPR and first aid, it should be mandatory. Additional costs are minimal and programs are widely available. Greater scope comes with greater requirements to perform the activity.
I disagree with this. Pharmacist is physically available in the Pharmacy anyway . Unnecessarily increasing cost.
I disagree with this. Unnecessarily increasing cost and burden to administer injections.
While we agree that first aid training is necessary, Emergency First Aid with CPR/AED Level C would be sufficient and cover the required training for emergencies that may result from injections.
I agree that all pharmacy technicians administering vaccines should be trained in CPR and first aid.
Benefits: – Ensures pharmacists maintain this level of emergency preparedness better protects the public if these arise in the pharmacy (not likely relevant to this expanded scope) – those with injection administration authorization should already have this, so not much of an additional ask – may have halo benefit of members who don’t work within the injection scope to do so if this was a barrier to that Cons: – additional cost of course and time to complete the course and renew authorization (relatively small over time, but could be large for larger organizations that choose to subsidize or cover the cost up front) – this should be considered and addressed in terms of some level of support for the initial certification requirement – not a requirement for most other health care professionals, and most pharmacists have this level of knowledge already
I think that if you are performing a regulated activity, you should be required to have the same safety knowledge and training as everyone else. CPR and first aid is a useful skill, and is not difficult to obtain as there are classes widely offered. I agree that the certification should be mandatory.
I believe that it should be Mandatory for the Standard First Aid and CPR course for RPhT’s who are becoming qualified in Injection administration, our first priority is the patient and their safety. I do believe that any Registered Health Professional should have the course. This course can help member in terms of their patients, family and the member themselves
Great implementation
The draft guideline states: Pharmacy technicians are authorized to administer by injection: • Specific vaccines included in Schedule 3 of O. Reg. 256/24, The proposal is “all Schedule 3 vaccines “. Typo? Suggest additional training be mandated also for onychomycosis, tinea corporis & cruris.
CPR need not be mandatory as the clinical check of the person being vaccinated is being done by the pharmacist Patients do not have the same faith as they have with their pharmacist. Public needs to be made aware of RPhT’s role . It’s already a challenge to community technicians with their multitasking while they are not paid as much as their hospital counterparts. This additional out of pocket expense can be avoided.
The more people who have CPR and First Aid certification the safer the public is especially considering RPhTech are already doing injections.
I have found over the decades this retraining every 3 years is repetitive , redundant and only provides a few people with a high revenue stream to retrain people. Nothing new ever appears and price and time commitments are getting larger . A more reasonable approach is every 5 years and an inexpensive on line testing ( keep costs under $20 )
I do not agree with this in that I feel that it is expensive and time consuming to take the First Aid CPR course and sometimes hard to find a course to fit into your schedule. Pharmacy Technicians should not be responsible to provide First Aid or CPR in a practice setting. This can open up opportunities for RPhT’s to be sued by patients and families. It also seems to be stretching the scope of practice quite a bit. I believe that injections given in a practice site have a Pharmacist present and they should be the ones responsible for administering First Aid/CPR to a patient in distress. It is also important to note that there could be other reasons besides injection reaction that would cause a patient to require CPR/First Aid while being injected and that is beyond the scope of an RPhT to assess and treat. Beyond injection site prep and administering a cotton swab and bandage, the RPhT should not be responsible. Additionally, it should be left to the employer if they want their staff to acquire the certification and would maybe be suitable in a clinic setting.
The requirement should be for Emergency First Aid not standard first aid. We are never going to be in the bush splinting a leg. Total waste of time and energy. Also should be changed for pharmacists. Otherwise support the requirement.
Doing first aid is mandatory but the CPR wouldn’t be that necessary as Doing injection that to with pharmacist present on site and also it’s not that high risk procedure where we need to implement CPR. But still I support this change in requirement ensuring the patient safety is of paramount.
I absolutely support the CPR requirement for technicians providing injections.
I agree. What is even the point of allowing pharmacy technicians to inject vaccines if none work in community pharmacies? As a hospital pharmacist, none of our pharmacy technicians inject vaccines as the nurses do it. In our community pharmacies the registered pharmacy technicians are few and far between and certainly none at the big box stores. Here is one of the articles that the big box chains are already promoting strep testing by pharmacists: newmarkettoday.ca/local-news/future-of-pharmacy-shoppers-drug-mart-opens-first-of-its-kind-care-clinic-in-aurora-11642906 If you want us to do strep testing, then make it mandatory to have pharmacy technicians in community pharmacies!
I understand the importance Pharmacy Technicians having this training and how it will help to enhance patient care and safety. Is there a plan in place for individuals who are actively administering injections who would need accommodations for CPR training due to a physical disability? Thank you
I believe it is very important to have mandatory first aid training.
Yes it is a good idea
Once again, I am appalled at OCP. The only thing OCP got out of the last public feedback on expanded scope of practice that CPR/first aid should be a requirement for pharmacy technicians. OBVIOUSLY! if its a requirement for nurses and pharmacists then it should be. How about a requirement that every pharmacy have at least one registered pharmacy technician on staff at all times? Practically how many techs will be administering vaccines? None at my site or any of its 10 locations because they are too cheap to pay for it, so the pharmacist has to do everything. By the way, are you aware that the big chain store who already made pharmacist led clinics in anticipation of more minor ailments are advertising that pharmacists will be able to prescribe for strep throat in Jan 2026! i really appreciate fielding all the questions from angry parents when I tell them I can’t.
I do not see problem with techs finding class resources for mandatory requirement. If remote, have individual reach out, ocp provide help to find course to attend/complete. Benefit is that they are prepared if something goes wrong during vaccination. Only barrier if initial class or renewal is difficult based on location.
This should be an absolute must for pharmacists. On three different occasions in my pharmacy, patients suddenly collapsed on the floor. Each time, we called the University Emergency Response team, and they arrived within a minute. Had they not been available, I would have been the one providing first aid to my patients.
I think making CPR and First aid mandatory should be expected. I believe that it should only be required if you are currently at a job site or in a position where you can administer injections. A technician working at a long-term care Pharmacy who has no patient contact and who has completed injection certification should not have to pay out of pocket to get CPR and first aid if there is no direct contact with the patient. But, if their job site offers injections to the public and the technician could be directed to give one, they should be required to be up to date on their CPR, etc. Accessibility to CPR and first aid could be an issue for those in rural areas; cost and time off work could also be an issue. Overall, being prepared for a potential emergency and having up-to-date training on how to care for your patient is always a positive. If our scope is expanding, then so should our standard of safety and care for our patients and ourselves.
Since a pharmacist has to be on site at all times when the pharmacy is open, there shouldn’t be a need for an RPhT to maintain CPR. The pharmacist on duty is already responsible to maintain first aid and I think this would just be more red tape. Thanks
I don’t think CPR/First aid should be required by RPhTs providing vaccinations as we are required to be under supervision of pharmacist who already are required to obtain that certification. In rural Ontario, CPR/First aid courses aren’t as easily accessibly as they are in the cities and they cost more than $200 to obtain. Not every company is willing to support staff to get their certification so trying to find it outside of work hours is hard.
I agree – all pharmacy technicians and intern technicians who administer injections should be required to be certified in CPR and First Aid
Yes I support mandatory CPR and First AID training for Pharmacy Technicians for administering vaccinations
I am a retired pharmacist who used to administer flu shots and other vaccines. I think registered technicians administering injections should absolutely be required to have mandatory CPR and first aid training. In fact I think anyone licensed by OCP as a pharmacist or technician should have this training regardless if they administer injections or not. More and more people walk into pharmacies as though they are a walk in medical clinic and require first aid assistance. The more people who are trained to assess and assist the better. It’s a public good for society as a whole which can be helpful in non pharmacy settings as well.
For the safety of the patients, all pharmacy technicians should have the CPR and First Aid training.
Yes. Pharmacy Technicians administering injections should also be required to hold a valid First Aid/CPR certificate the same as their pharmacist counterparts. Having knowledge in First Aid and CPR training is a vital life skill, and we should take all opportunities to require the public to have this knowledge whenever possible. It would also help ensure the Technician administering the injection “feels” a bit more of the weight and responsibility of the task they are performing if they are trained and would be expected to respond in an emergency rather than defaulting to the pharmacist on staff.
Of course. Why is this even a question? Implementation and expectations should simply be the same as for pharmacists.
Absolutely ! Since public interest is the brand of the College and in the interest of best patient care , CPR should be mandatory. It’s finishing the job. Gold standard. Technicians are considered professionals so walk the walk. Patients deserve this level of service.
Yes, CPR and first aid should be required for injection certified pharmacy technicians.
Would this allow pharmacy technicians to perform injections outside of a pharmacy under the guidence of a nurse or MD? This may fill a gap in services required for injections such as denosumab, leuprolide, elligard and allow pharmacy technicians to gain other meaningful employment outside of pharmacy