Annual Registrant Renewal

No. “Members” and “registrants” mean the same thing. Both refer to individuals registered with the Ontario College of Pharmacists (College), which includes pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, interns and intern technicians.

The College uses the term “registrants” because it reflects our role in serving the public interest rather than representing members, which is more typical of an association where membership is optional. To practice the profession of pharmacy in Ontario, every pharmacy professional (pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, interns and intern technicians) must be registered with the College. Although you may see the term “members” used in regulation, the College often uses “registrants” in its communications to describe regulated pharmacy professionals.

This notification means that you have been selected to complete the Knowledge Assessment as part of the College’s mandatory Quality Assurance (QA) Program.

The Knowledge Assessment is an open-book, online assessment that evaluates a Part A pharmacist’s ability to apply clinical knowledge as well as current legislation, ethics and scope of practice to patient care scenarios.

Selection for the Knowledge Assessment is conducted through a random process and participation is mandatory for Part A pharmacists who are selected.

For more information, including FAQs, please visit the Knowledge Assessment webpage.

If you received a pop-up notification that you’ve been selected for the Knowledge Assessment but haven’t received an email notification confirming your selection, please contact [email protected].

Registrants must demonstrate sufficient English or French language proficiency throughout their registration with the College. Language proficiency requirements help ensure pharmacy professionals can effectively communicate with patients and other healthcare professionals to support safe and quality patient care throughout their pharmacy careers.      

All pharmacists and pharmacy technicians (both Part A and Part B) must complete the “Declaration of Language Proficiency” as part of their annual renewal process. This helps ensure language proficiency requirements are met.

The College accepts credit card, cheque or money order. Please note the College’s portal does not accept Interac debit payment.

If you are a Part A registrant who will continue to work in the pharmacy profession but not provide patient care (as defined on the Part A & B Register page), and you wish to be able to use the protected title of “pharmacist” or “pharmacy technician”, you have the option to move to Part B of the Register. As a Part B registrant, you are required to complete the annual renewal but your renewal fee is lower and you do not need to have personal liability insurance. If you decide to return to providing patient care at a later date (no time limit), you will have to undergo the process to move from Part B to Part A. This option should be considered for a registrant who is changing to a non-patient care role.

If you are a pharmacist or pharmacy technician in good standing who will not be working in the profession in the near future but intend to return to practice within three years, you have the option to resign from the Register and then reinstate. While you are resigned from the Register, you will not be required to pay the annual renewal fee or maintain personal professional liability insurance. Please note that once resigned, you will not be able to use the protected title of “pharmacist” or “pharmacy technician” or provide patient care. This option is appropriate to consider for a practitioner who is taking a leave from practising as a pharmacist or pharmacy technician for less than three years (e.g., parental or personal leave, sabbatical, temporary relocation outside of Ontario, working outside the profession of pharmacy).

You are eligible to apply for reinstatement within three years of the date of your resignation. When seeking reinstatement, former registrants will be reinstated into Part B of the Register. Registrants may be reinstated to Part A of the Register if certain conditions are met.

After three years from the date of your resignation from the Register, you will not be eligible for reinstatement. If you wish to return to the profession, you will be required to re-apply as a new applicant. Please review the information about reinstatement after three years from the date of resignation on the Resigning & Reinstating web page. This option is appropriate for a practitioner who is relocating outside of Ontario for three years or longer, changing careers or retiring.

For any questions about the annual renewal process, please contact the Registrant Applications and Renewals team at [email protected] or 416-962-4861 / 1-800-220-1921 ext. 3400.

Revenue from annual fees is necessary for the College to meet our legislated obligations and regulate the profession in the public interest. College by-laws approved by the Board of Directors in 2020 set an annual increase in fees to be tied to the percentage increase, if any, in the Consumer Price Index as of September 30th of each year. The intention is to reduce the need for large increases in fees in any single year by keeping up with inflation, which impacts everyone and contributes to higher costs for all organizations, including the College.

As part of annual renewal, the College is inviting registrants to share their pronoun information to help the College use inclusive and accurate language during interactions with registrants. Pronouns refer to how you would like to be referred to in the third person and could include she/her, he/his or they/them. Sharing pronoun information with the College is optional and will only be used during staff-registrant interactions. The College’s commitment to safeguarding registrants’ privacy is reflected in our Privacy Policy.

Sharing your pronouns with the College is optional. If you do choose to share your pronouns, this information will only be used to support inclusive and accurate language during your interactions with College staff.

Registrants should set aside 10-15 minutes to complete their annual renewal. If there are changes to your personal and workplace information, you will be asked to update it. Registrants will also be asked to respond to declarations. These should be read carefully before responding.

All pharmacists and pharmacy technicians must complete the annual renewal process.

Interns, intern technicians and registrants holding an Emergency Assignment (EA) certificate of registration (when available), do not complete the annual renewal process.