31120 Pharmacists

What this occupation covers

Community pharmacists and hospital pharmacists compound and dispense prescribed pharmaceuticals and provide consultative services to both clients and health care providers. They are employed in retail pharmacies and health center pharmacies, or they may be self-employed. Industrial pharmacists participate in the research, development, promotion and manufacture of pharmaceutical products. They are employed in pharmaceutical companies and government departments and agencies.

Official main duties

The NOC profile lists 18 main duties for this code.

• Check prescriptions for proper dosage
• Compound prescribed pharmaceutical products by calculating, measuring and mixing the quantities of drugs and other ingredients required and filling appropriate containers with correct quantity
• Dispense prescribed pharmaceuticals to customers or to other health care professionals and advise them on indications, contra-indications, adverse effects, drug interactions and dosage
• Maintain medication profiles of customers including registry of poisons and narcotic and controlled drugs
• Ensure proper preparation, packaging, distribution and storage of vaccines, serums, biologicals and other drugs and pharmaceuticals
• Order and maintain stock of pharmaceutical supplies
• Advise customers on selection and use of non-prescription medication
• Renew existing prescriptions in limited circumstances
• May adapt the formulation, regimen, duration or route of administration of medication
• May supervise and coordinate the activities of other pharmacists, pharmacy assistants, pharmacy technicians and other staff.
• Participate in research for the development of new drugs
• Formulate new drug products developed by medical researchers
• Test new drug products for stability and to determine absorption and elimination patterns
• Coordinate clinical investigations of new drugs
• Control the quality of drug products during production to ensure that they meet standards of potency, purity, uniformity, stability and safety
• Develop information materials concerning the uses, properties and risks of particular drugs
• Evaluate labelling, packaging and advertising of drug products
• Promote pharmaceutical products to health professionals.

Do not copy these lines into your reference letter. The letter has to describe what you actually did, in your employer’s words. DUTYPROOF flags wording lifted from the NOC as something to review, and an officer reading a letter that mirrors the NOC reads it the same way.

What DUTYPROOF screens for

This is DUTYPROOF’s screening threshold, not IRCC’s decision. For this NOC, screening requires at least 3 of its 18 official duties to be evidenced in your own words, plus the required letter elements. IRCC asks that you performed the actions in the occupation’s lead statement and a substantial number of its main duties — so treat the duty coverage as the number that matters, not the badge.

Codes this one is confused with

The NOC profile names these itself. Choosing the wrong code of a look-alike pair is the most common way genuine work experience fails to establish eligibility.

• 21101 Chemists
• 30010 Managers in health care
• 60020 Retail and wholesale trade managers
• 62100 Technical sales specialists - wholesale trade
• 21110 Biologists and related scientists
• 33103 Pharmacy technical assistants and pharmacy assistants
• 32124 Pharmacy technicians

Excluded from this code

• Chemists (See 21101 Chemists)
• Chief of pharmacy (See 30010 Managers in health care)
• Drugstore manager (See 60020 Retail and wholesale trade managers)
• Pharmaceutical sales representative (See 62100 Technical sales specialists - wholesale trade)
• Pharmacologist (See 21110 Biologists and related scientists)
• Pharmacy director (See 30010 Managers in health care)
• Pharmacy manager - retail (See 60020 Retail and wholesale trade managers)
• Pharmacy technical assistants and pharmacy assistants (See 33103 Pharmacy technical assistants and pharmacy assistants)
• Pharmacy technicians (See 32124 Pharmacy technicians)

Job titles filed under this code

A title on this list does not by itself put your experience in this code — the duties in your letter decide that.

clinical pharmacist · community pharmacist · dispensary department supervisor - hospital · drug information pharmacist · druggist · health care institution pharmacist · hospital druggist · hospital pharmacist · industrial pharmacist · intern pharmacist · pharmacist · pharmacist consultant · pharmacy officer - Canadian Armed Forces · registered pharmacist · retail pharmacist

Employment requirements

• A university degree in pharmacy and a period of supervised practical training are required.
• Licensure is required in all provinces and territories for community and hospital pharmacists.