Continuing Education for Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians

Jump to Continuing Education Resource Links

To provide optimal patient care throughout their careers, healthcare professionals – including pharmacists and pharmacy technicians – must maintain their competency and participate in ongoing professional development activities (continuing education).

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Continuing Education and the Quality Assurance Program

The Regulated Health Professions Act requires all regulated health professions in Ontario to have a Quality Assurance (QA) Program. The purpose of the QA Program is to assure the public that healthcare professionals are competent to provide patient care, and to contribute to individual and system-wide continuous quality improvement.

The Learning Portfolio is one component of the QA Program, requiring registrants to participate in and track their continuing professional development. Registrants are responsible for identifying their learning needs, choosing the activities to achieve their goals and applying those learnings to their practice.

More information on the QA Program and the Learning Portfolio can be found on the Quality Assurance Program webpage.

Learning Activities and Accreditation

The Ontario College of Pharmacists does not accredit learning activities. Accreditation of learning activities is provided by external organizations that establish policies and standards for continuing education to ensure a transparent and accountable process of review has occurred. For example, the Canadian Council on Continuing Education in Pharmacy (CCCEP) accredits continuing education programs in Canada and the Canadian university offices of continuing medical education (CME/CPD offices) are accredited by the Committee on Accreditation of Continuing Medical Education (CACME).

The College does not set a required number of learning activities or contact hours to be obtained each year. Rather, registrants choose activities based on their individual learning needs and goals. These activities can be chosen from accredited and/or non-accredited sources.

To ensure registrants have access to the most up-to-date external continuing education (CE) resources, direct links to specific courses are no longer maintained or posted by the College. Instead, links to CE provider websites are shared for registrants to access current CE resources and courses.

Please note the following about the continuing education links:

  • Provider links focus on educators providing topics related to the pharmacy profession
  • The provider list is not exhaustive and registrants can use providers not listed below, including those outside of pharmacy (e.g., medical professional education)
  • Registrants can also consider activities from other jurisdictions when appropriate for their individual growth and professional development
  • Continuing educational activities from these providers have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Ontario College of Pharmacists
  • The Ontario College of Pharmacists does not endorse any organization, product or therapy.
Canadian Accredited Programs:
Canadian Providers Who May Provide Accredited and/or Non-Accredited Learning Activities:

For questions about continuing education for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, please contact us at PDR@ocpinfo.com.