Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences

UBC Continuing Pharmacy Professional DevelopmentRoom 105, 2194 Health Sciences Mall, Vancouver BC V6T 1Z3

E-mail infocpe@interchange.ubc.ca * Tel 604-822-0354 * Fax 604-822-4835

http://www.pharmacy.ubc.ca/cppd/programs/CP3_Program.htm

Canadian Pharmacy Practice Programme

The process to become licensed to practice pharmacy in Canada involves several stages. There is an organization that assesses competency for practice anywhere in Canada, the Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada (PEBC). Their website is www.pebc.ca/EnglishPages/General/HomePage.html. Initially an internationally trained pharmacist would need to have their qualifications assessed. Once that assessment has been made, the next step is to write the Evaluating Exam. Once that is passed, the next step is the two-part Qualifying Exam. Part I is the Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) exam and Part II is the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE).

An internationally trained pharmacist may choose to start working on the PEBC requirements before making the commitment to actually move to Canada. For example, the process of having qualifications assessed can be done from overseas and a candidate could come to Canada on a Visitors Visa in order to attempt the Evaluating Exam.

Having completed the PEBC requirements allows a pharmacist to apply to any provincial licensing body (College) in Canada for a license to practice. In British Columbia, the College of Pharmacists of British Columbia (CPBC) requires completion of a language assessment, a jurisprudence exam and some internship hours. Information regarding these requirements can be found on their website www.bcpharmacists.org/registration/pdf/QC_Info_Guide_info.pdf. There may be slight variations in these requirements from province to province, but they are, essentially, very similar. Websites for the various provincial licensing bodies can be found at www.napra.ca/docs/0/745.asp. Comparative information from the provincial licensing bodies can also be found at www.napra.org/docs/0/94/109.asp.

UBC has a program to help foreign-trained pharmacists learn the skills they need to practice pharmacy in Canada, the Canadian Pharmacy Practice Programme (CP3). Information can be found at http://www.pharmacy.ubc.ca/cppd/programs/CP3_Program.htm.In order to be able to register for the program, a pharmacist must have passed the PEBC Evaluating Exam and have completed the CPBC language requirements. Working on their own to prepare for the PEBC Qualifying Exam, internationally trained pharmacists frequently take 2 or 3 attempts to pass each part of this exam. A program such as CP3 provides the candidate with the necessary competencies for practice, and those are the competencies that PEBC is testing for.

Immigration and visa information can be found at www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/index.html. If a pharmacist wished to come on a Student Visa and take the CP3 course, there is a process in place to help with obtaining the visa, but the pharmacist would first need to have passed the Evaluating Exam. If the pharmacist took the course, there is also a process to help arrange a Work Visa or Permanent Resident status once the necessary Qualifying Exams have been passed.It can take a long time and be very expensive to become registered to practise pharmacy in British Columbia. The minimum costs to be expected, in Canadian dollars (except where noted), are as follows:

PEBC Requirements

Document evaluation (for internationally-trained pharmacists)$ 470.00

Evaluating Examination$ 460.00

Qualifying Examination Part I (MCQ)$ 300.00

Qualifying Examination Part II (OSCE)$ 1,350.00

English Language Assessment (only those options available in BC)

IELTS$ 245.00

TSE$ 155.15

C-TOEFL$ 155.15

TOEFL-iBT$ 160.00 USD

CPBC Requirements

Jurisprudence Examination$187.25

Registration Application$ 294.25

Internship$ 530.00

Pharmacist License$ 690.15

Bridging Program

Canadian Pharmacy Practice Programme at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, UBC (includes Clerkship)

Application Fee$ 10,000.00

$250.00

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