About The College
    Mission Statement:
    The mission of the Ontario College of Pharmacists is to regulate the practice of pharmacy, through the participation of the public and the profession, in accordance with standards of practice which ensure that our members provide the public with quality pharmaceutical service and care.


Who we are:
The Ontario College of Pharmacists (OCP) is the registering and regulating body for pharmacy practice in Ontario. All persons within Ontario who wish to dispense prescriptions and sell products defined as drugs to the public must first have met the professional qualifications set by the College, and be registered as a pharmacist. Likewise, all pharmacies must meet certain standards for operations and be accredited by the College. In addition to setting initial standards, the College ensures ongoing adherence to the professional and operational standards.

OCP, originally incorporated in 1871, is set up under the Pharmacy Act, one of many health profession specific acts established under the Regulated Health Professions Act (RHPA) of Ontario. The RHPA is the umbrella legislation of the provincial government which bestows to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, the duty to ensure that health professions are regulated in the public interest.
The objects of the College, as set out in the Health Professions Procedural Code (section 2 of the RHPA), are:

    • To regulate the practice of pharmacy and to govern the members in accordance with the Pharmacy Act, the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991 and its code, and the regulations and by-laws.
    • To develop, establish and maintain standards of qualification for persons to be issued certificates of registration.
    • To develop, establish and maintain programs and standards of practice to assure the quality of the practice of profession.
    • To develop, establish and maintain standards of knowledge and skill and programs to promote continuing evaluation, competence and improvement among the members.
    • To develop, establish and maintain standards of professional ethics for the members.
    • To develop, establish and maintain programs to assist individuals to exercise their rights under the Code and the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991.
    • To administer the health profession Act, this Code and the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991 as it relates to the profession and to perform the other duties and exercise the other powers that are imposed or conferred on the College.
    • To promote and enhance relations between the College and its members, other health profession colleges, key stakeholders, and the public.
    • To promote inter-professional collaboration with other health profession colleges.
    • To develop, establish, and maintain standards and programs to promote the ability of members to respond to changes in practice environments, advances in technology and other emerging issues.
    • Any other objects relating to human health care that the Council considers desirable.
    • To regulate drugs and pharmacies under the Drug and Pharmacies Regulation Act.
    • To develop, establish and maintain standards of qualification for persons to be issued certificates of accreditation.
In carrying out its objects, the College's duty is to serve and protect
the public interest.

Public Education
As part of the College’s strategic commitment to public education, outreach and awareness, an advertising campaign is underway. The campaign is intended to increase the public’s understanding of the value that the profession brings to their health.

Click here to see the current print ads, running in Fall 2009 publications of Zoomer, Reader’s Digest, Canadian Living and Homemaker’s.



Click here to see the television ads that ran in 2003, 2006 and 2008.

Governance of the Pharmacy Profession under Self Regulation:
The legal powers and duties of the College are set out in the RHPA, the Health Professions Procedural Code, the Pharmacy Act and the Drug and Pharmacies Regulation Act. The activities of the College are subject to a number of oversight mechanisms including both general and specific oversight by the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care and specific oversight by the Health Professions Appeal and Review Board and the Heath Professions Regulatory Advisory Council.

As required by the Pharmacy Act, the College is overseen by a Council of up to 17 elected pharmacists, up to 16 government appointed members of the public and the Deans of the two Pharmacy faculties in Ontario. Council's primary role is to ensure that your interests as a patient are protected and maintained.

College Council meetings and discipline hearings are open to the public. To obtain dates for council meetings or discipline hearings, or to reserve a seat, contact the College at (416) 962-4861 or 1-800-220-1921.

In accordance with the Fair Access to Regulated Professions Act and the Regulated Health Professions Act, Ontario’s Office of the Fairness Commissioner exists to require certain professions to review registration practices, submit reports about them and undergo compliance audits to ensure that registration is fair for all applicants. In accordance with our annual requirement to do so, the College is pleased to share the 2008 Fair Registration Practices Report that has recently been provided to the Fairness Commissioner (Click here to view the report).