Which pharmacists have the largest scope in Canada?

Pharmacists in Alberta and Quebec have the most extensive scope of practice in Canada, according to the National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities (NAPRA). It recently released 2023 tables that show what pharmacists in different provinces across the country are allowed to do. Both Alberta and Quebec's pharmacists can perform all 11 tasks NAPRA listed under testing and prescribing, both with and without an existing prescription. Read: 6 steps to take before you add minor ailment prescribing to your pharmacyThat includes initiating prescriptions, initiating a prescription through delegation or in accordance with a collective prescription, initiating prescriptions for specified conditions or circumstances, and prescribing in emergencies. With an existing prescription, pharmacists in those provinces can adapt prescriptions, offer a therapeutic substitution, and renew or continue a prescription for continuing care. They could also order lab tests, perform tests, and interpret tests. Overall, the most common abilities across the country were initiating a prescription for specified conditions or circumstances, adapting an existing prescription, renewing or continuing a prescription for continuing care, administering tests and interpreting tests. The least common ones were prescribing in emergency circumstances, initiating prescriptions, and initiating prescriptions through delegation or in accordance with a collective prescription. Read: Ontario Pharmacists Association says ability to prescribe birth control should be nextHow the provinces compareIn Atlantic Canada, pharmacists in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia enjoy nearly the same scope, with the ability to do everything except initiating prescriptions through delegation or in accordance with a collective prescription. (In New Brunswick, the ability to order lab tests is pending: it has legal authorization but isn’t fully implemented yet.) Pharmacists in Prince Edward Island can’t initiate prescriptions or initiate prescriptions through delegation or in accordance with a collective prescription, but can do everything else. Those in Newfoundland and Labrador can’t initiate prescriptions, initiate prescriptions through delegation or in accordance with a collective prescription, prescribe in emergencies, or order lab tests. In the prairies, Saskatchewan and Manitoba’s pharmacists can do almost everything that those in Alberta can, and are only missing the ablility to initiate prescriptions through delegation or in accordance with a collective prescription. Read: Saskatchewan pharmacists can now prescribe for two new minor ailmentsOntario pharmacists can do less, as they cannot initiate a prescription, prescribe in emergencies, or offer therapeutic substitutions when there’s an existing prescription. And B.C. pharmacists can’t order lab tests, initiate prescriptions, prescribe in emergencies, or initiate a prescription through delegation or in accordance with a collective prescription. Up north, pharmacists in Yukon can’t initiate a prescription, initiate a prescription through delegation or in accordance with a collective prescription, prescribe in emergency circumstances, perform lab tests or order them. Those in Northwest Territories can only renew or continue a prescription for continuing care under an existing prescription, and those in Nunavut can’t do any of the tests or prescribing that pharmacists in other provinces and territories can do.Read: What do pharmacists and pharmacy technicians think of their scope expansions?

Which pharmacists have the largest scope in Canada?

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