33103 Pharmacy technical assistants and pharmacy assistants

What this occupation covers

Pharmacy technical assistants perform technical tasks related to preparing medications under a pharmacist's supervision. They also assist in filling prescriptions and managing patient files. Pharmacy assistants perform clerical functions and assists pharmacists and pharmacy technicians with drug dispensing tasks. Pharmacy technical assistants and pharmacy assistants are employed in retail and hospital pharmacies, long-term care facilities and by pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Official main duties

The NOC profile lists 7 main duties for this code.

• Assess prescriptions for completeness
• Enter clients' information and prescription details in databases
• Help pharmacists and other pharmacy staff with preparing, packaging and labelling of pharmaceutical products
• Assist in maintaining inventories of medications and pharmaceutical products
• Compound oral solutions, ointments and creams
• May process medical billing information
• May price and stock items on shelves.

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 2 of its 7 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.

• 64100 Retail salespersons and visual merchandisers
• 32124 Pharmacy technicians

Excluded from this code

• Pharmacy clerk (See 64100 Retail salespersons and visual merchandisers)
• 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.

dispensary assistant · drugstore dispensing assistant · drugstore side room attendant · pharmacy aide · pharmacy assistant · pharmacy helper · pharmacy side room attendant · pharmacy supply assistant · pharmacy technical assistant

Employment requirements

• Pharmacy technical assistants usually require completion of up to two-years of a Pharmacy Technical Assistance vocational program.
• Pharmacy assistants usually require completion of a Pharmacy Assistant college program, ranging from six to twelve months or completion of secondary school and several months of on-the-job training.