Feedback deadline was: December 20, 2020

At its November 19 meeting, the Board unanimously approved proposed regulatory amendments that enable the creation of an emergency registration certificate class of pharmacy professionals. These regulations require government approval and would be implemented once the government determines, in collaboration with the College, that there is a shortage of qualified pharmacy professionals that puts at risk the ability of Ontarians to access timely and safe pharmacy services during an emergency situation—including the current pandemic.

As required under law, the College is proceeding with an open consultation to gather feedback on the proposed regulatory amendments.

The Minister of Health has granted an abridgement of the consultation period from 60 days to 10 days, following a formal request from the College to waive or abridge the consultation period due to an increasing strain on the pharmacy workforce and growing urgency to enable regulatory changes that would allow for additional pharmacy professional resources to meet patient care needs. The consultation will therefore close on December 20, 2020 at midnight.

Please review the resources listed at the bottom of this page and submit your feedback through the “Leave A Comment” form. Comments will be shared publicly in a transparent manner, as per the College’s posting guidelines.

Background

Throughout the pandemic, the College has maintained its commitment to its public protection mandate and focused its efforts on supporting the profession and collaborating with stakeholders throughout the health system to identify and implement solutions aimed at overcoming unique challenges posed by the pandemic in the delivery of safe, quality pharmacy services.

Earlier in the year, the College recognized the potential need for additional pharmacy personnel to be authorized to provide patient care as the health system ramped up its capacity to manage the challenges associated with the first wave of the pandemic. As an immediate response, the College worked quickly, within its existing regulatory authority, to enable qualified pharmacy professionals with a pathway to return to practice (recently resigned registrants and Part B pharmacists), and encouraged individuals holding other registration certificates (e.g. pharmacy students and interns) to work to the fullest extent of their current scope.

However, the growing and sustained pressure of the pandemic on the pharmacy sector and profession as a whole reinforced the need for an immediate and long-term solution that would enable a nimble and responsive pharmacy workforce capable of managing a surge in demand in the event of a significant environmental, social or health emergency that may otherwise potentially put the accessibility of pharmacy services at risk.

The Board subsequently considered and approved proposed regulatory amendments to enable the creation of an emergency registration certificate class of pharmacy professionals, as indicated above.

Share your feedback

When providing your feedback, please consider how emergency assignment registration certificates for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians advance the College’s public protection mandate.

The intent of this consultation page is to enable and encourage open and constructive feedback on matters that are directly relevant to the consultation topic. It may take up to three business days for your response to appear on the feedback page as the College must manually review each response against our posting guidelines.

Please be assured that all responses submitted to the consultation are collected and reviewed by the College as part of our analysis. Comments that are not directly related to the consultation topic or that are not in accordance with our posting guidelines will not be posted.