PACE Eligibility
You are eligible to apply for PACE if you have:
- Graduated from a CCAPP-accredited Canadian pharmacy technician education program:
- Within the past two years, or
- Within the past two years successfully completed the PEBC Pharmacy Technician Qualifying Exam; OR
- Graduated from a PEBC-recognized international pharmacy education program and successfully completed either:
- All required bridging education within the past two years, or
- Parts 1 and 2 of the PEBC Pharmacy Technician Qualifying Exam on your first attempt of each within the past three years.
Candidates should check the relevant pharmacy technician registration pathway to see when they are eligible to apply for PACE.
Insurance Requirements
Unpaid PACE candidates are not covered by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB). If you are not employed by the organization where you are completing PACE, you should arrange for your own student accident insurance (sometimes called accidental death and dismemberment or AD&D insurance). An assessor may refuse to allow you to complete PACE in their practice site if you do not have student accident insurance.
You may wish to check with any pharmacy organizations to which you belong or your personal insurance carrier for their student accident insurance options that are similar to WSIB. The College does not endorse or recommend any particular insurance carrier.
Prepare for PACE
To prepare for PACE, you should:
This online Candidate Readiness for PACE for Pharmacy Technician Applicants Self-Assessment Tool has been created to help you determine if you are ready for PACE and what other preparation may be required before you apply for PACE. You may complete the self-assessment at any time as you prepare for PACE.
If, after reviewing the above resources, you have questions about your readiness for PACE and would like to speak to a registration advisor, please email regprograms@ocpinfo.com with the following information:
- Some dates and times you would be available (Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.)
- Your phone number
Please allow at least three business days for the College to respond to your request.
Apply for PACE
The application for PACE will be available in your online OCP profile if you are eligible. There is no PACE application fee.
In the online application, you will select the city where you want to complete your assessment and select a practice site address where a PACE assessor practices. To ensure an objective assessment, you must choose a practice site which you have not trained, worked or volunteered at, and where you have no prior relationship with the staff. If you or the assessor recognizes that you have a previously established relationship or an actual or perceived bias or conflict of interest, you must declare this on the online application or email regprograms@ocpinfo.com, and you may be required to choose another practice site and assessor.
You will also choose a proposed PACE start date that is between two weeks and two months from the date you complete the application. Your proposed assessor must agree to this date when they consider your application. You and your assessor cannot change your start date unless you have received written permission to do so from the PACE staff at the College. The typical time to process a PACE application is 10 business days.
Once you have received written confirmation from the College that your PACE application has been approved, you should contact your assessor to exchange contact information and arrange the start time for your first day. You should not provide your assessor with any information about your education or practice experience.
During PACE
You and your assessor will use an online portal that contains the instructions and other materials you require for PACE. You will be able to log into your PACE portal one day prior to your PACE start date. When you have access to the PACE portal, please review the portal information carefully and in its entirety.
At the end of your 35-hour orientation phase, you and your preceptor will decide if you will complete your 70-hour assessment phase over two weeks or three weeks.
By the end of your assessment, you will have had opportunities to demonstrate all the competency domains and elements of the PACE Assessment Criteria (Pharmacy Technician Applicants). Activities that you are expected to perform during PACE include, but are not limited to:
- Processing, preparing and checking prescriptions/products/interim doses
- Maintaining inventory systems
- Supporting practice management and medication safety
- Dealing with practice issues
- Applying regulations and ethical principles in practice
- Demonstrating professional behaviour
- Interacting with pharmacy staff and other healthcare professionals
- Documenting practice activities
Please see the above information about the orientation and assessment phases of the PACE model.
PACE Results
Once you have completed your 70-hour assessment and submitted your 30 practice journal entries, your assessor will complete the Tool for Assessment of Pharmacy Technician Applicants (TAPT). They are expected to submit the TAPT within three business days after you finish PACE. A College registration advisor will review your assessor’s ratings and your PACE outcome. You will be informed by email of your result within 10 business days of your TAPT being submitted.
Please see the above information about the development phase of the PACE model.
FAQs for Applicants
When can I apply for PACE?
Pharmacy technician applicants can begin to apply for PACE in October 2024.
Does the College provide testing accommodations for PACE candidates?
Yes, testing accommodations are provided according to the Testing Accommodations in PACE policy. The online PACE application asks if you require testing accommodations.
Can I select a PACE practice site that is part of the same organization where I currently work?
Yes, you may select a site that is part of your employer’s organization provided you have not trained, worked or volunteered at that site, and you have no prior relationship with the staff. For example, your PACE practice site could be part of the same hospital group or the same pharmacy chain or banner of your current workplace. You must declare your relationship to the practice site on the online application. A registration advisor will review the circumstances to determine if you and your proposed assessor will be allowed to complete PACE together. Please review the bias or conflict of interest in PACE document to understand how the assessor’s ability to objectively assess you may be affected.
Can I take time off during PACE?
No, you may not take a vacation break during or between your orientation and assessment phases. Do not plan any time off until at least four weeks after your PACE start date to ensure sufficient time to complete your entire assessment.
What can I do if I have concerns about my assessor or the pharmacy that may have affected my performance during PACE?
If a situation develops during the assessment period that you believe may have affected your performance, you should immediately inform your assessor and/or a College registration advisor by emailing regprograms@ocpinfo.com. You should also review the PACE Administration Appeals policy.
What should I do if I have applied for PACE and am unable to continue?
If you need to or decide to discontinue PACE at any time after your start date has been confirmed and before the end of your assessment, you must immediately inform the College at regprograms@ocpinfo.com and provide your reason(s) for not being able to complete PACE.
I failed PACE. How do I find someone to help me?
You choose your own pharmacy professional coach. The coach you choose should be someone you believe genuinely wants to help you succeed in preparing for your next PACE attempt. You could ask your PACE assessor to be your coach, but they are not required to do so.
Your pharmacy professional coach should:
- Provide patient care to patients on a regular basis
- Be proficient in their ability to provide feedback and guidance
- Be in good standing with OCP with no terms, conditions or limitations on their certificate of registration (see OCP’s Public Register for this information)
- Demonstrate professionalism
- Model effective communication with patients, colleagues, and other healthcare professionals
- Be aware of and up to date on developments in practice
- Support and understand the PACE model
- Promote patient-centred care
- Have teaching or preceptor experience (optional)
Your coach’s practice site should:
- Promote patient-centred care
- Provide sufficient practice opportunities to meet your learning action plan goals and address your competency gaps (e.g., suitably high prescription count, variety of patients)
- Be a positive environment with sufficient staffing conducive to teaching and learning
- Have passed its recent pharmacy assessment and is entitled to operate in Ontario (see OCP’s Public Register)
What happens if I have two unsuccessful PACE attempts?
If you fail PACE twice, you will have to:
- Make a request to a panel of the Registration Committee. Your request should explain what you have done to improve your practice competence since your first PACE attempt. The panel may order you to complete additional education, examinations and/or training before you may apply to re-attempt PACE.
- Pay a reassessment fee to gain access to the PACE application.
Both these requirements will apply to your third and any subsequent PACE attempts.
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