Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences

UBC Continuing Pharmacy Professional Development

Room 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

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.

The Learning Centre

Canadian Pharmacy Practice Programme

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