If you are an undergraduate in an international pharmacy program, you are not allowed to practice pharmacy in Ontario—even under direct supervision of a pharmacist—until you have graduated AND are either enrolled in the IPG Program (see Step 3 below) or registered as an intern with OCP (see Step 4 below).
If you are a graduate from an international pharmacy program who passed both parts of the PEBC Qualifying Exam for pharmacists on the first attempt, you are eligible to follow another registration pathway.
Step 1: Pharmacists’ Gateway Canada
- Enroll in the Pharmacists’ Gateway Canada
- The Gateway is administered by the National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities
- Create a new Candidate Account
- Pay the enrollment fee
Step 2: PEBC Document Evaluation & Evaluating Exam
- Your education and professional credentials must be evaluated and ruled acceptable as part of the PEBC Document Evaluation
- Access the PEBC Streamlined Pathway for certification OR successfully complete the PEBC Evaluating Exam
- These are administered by the Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada
- Once you have received confirmation that you are exempted from OR have successfully completed the PEBC Evaluating Exam, you may select Ontario as your provincial regulatory authority (PRA) from your Gateway file
Step 3: IPG Program
- Successfully complete the International Pharmacy Graduate (IPG) Program*
- Your education must be current when you submit any application for registration (i.e., within two years of successful completion of the IPG Program or 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
Step 4: College-administered Requirements
Activate your online OCP account
- The College will confirm your PEBC results with the Gateway and your successful completion of the IPG Program before creating your OCP account; you do not have to pay the College’s initial application fee
- Submit supporting documentation of your evidence of identity and your citizenship or status in Canada
Register as an Intern
- Obtain personal professional liability insurance
- Submit a police background check
- Login to your account to apply
- Submit supporting documentation of your evidence of language proficiency. If you have submitted language proficiency test scores to the Gateway, please inform the College by email so that your test scores can be confirmed
- 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.
- Your intern certificate of registration is valid for one year and is required for you to perform the authorized acts of the profession. If your intern certificate expires before you register as a pharmacist 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
- Pay the exam fee
Practice Assessment of Competence at Entry (PACE)*
- Successfully complete PACE
- Login to your account to apply
- Your intern certificate of registration must be valid while you are preparing for, applying for and completing PACE
Step 5: PEBC Qualifying Exam
- Successfully complete Parts I and II of the PEBC Qualifying Exam for pharmacists*
- You may complete this exam at any point after you have completed Step 2
- This exam is administered by the Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada
- Please provide the College with your PEBC ID number so that your results can be confirmed with the Gateway
Step 6: Final Application for Certificate of Registration as a Pharmacist
- 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 and evidence of language proficiency must be current to proceed
- If more than two years have passed since you successfully completed the IPG Program or 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 pharmacist in Ontario.
After successfully completing the IPG program, a person who plans ahead to meet application deadlines and completes each requirement in the minimum time may finish the remaining registration process within five months. The entire registration process could be completed within 21 months. Some applicants may require two to three years. These timelines may not apply to applicants who are eligible for the PEBC’s Streamlined Pathway process.
Estimated fees paid to the College are $430 plus the annual fee. These fees are outlined in the Schedule of Fees.
Estimated fees paid to third parties are $19,411 plus the annual liability insurance premium.
*Non-exemptible requirement