OCP updates: Expanded-scope learning approach, no tech fee relief, controlled substance policy changes

Ontario pharmacy technicians will not see their annual registration fees reduced after the Ontario College of Pharmacists’ (OCP) board of directors voted Tuesday to maintain its current fee structure. The decision follows a board-directed review launched earlier this year in response to concerns from pharmacy technicians about fee levels.While the review found that technician earnings have increased rapidly over the past several years, it also confirmed that the annual renewal fee for a Part A pharmacy technician in Ontario—currently $683.80—still takes up a larger share of income than fees paid by comparable regulated health professions in the province.Yet the review also found that technician fees do not fully cover what OCP estimates it costs to regulate the profession. Between 2016 and 2026, fees recovered an average of only about 91% of the regulatory costs attributed to pharmacy technicians.In documents submitted to the board, OCP staff said they considered alternatives including freezing or cutting technician fees, but their modelling found those options would “reduce future revenues and increase reliance on existing reserve balances.” The college also looked at whether fees were discouraging people from entering or remaining in the profession, but said it found no clear evidence of a connection.Based on those findings, college staff recommended keeping the existing fee model in place for now.“This recommendation should not be interpreted as minimizing the concerns that were raised,” Thomas Custers, the college’s director of corporate services, told the board.The board followed that recommendation, voting to leave technician fees and the current Consumer Price Index-based adjustment formula unchanged until OCP can take a broader look at its fee structure following the development of its next comprehensive strategic plan and updated multi-year financial forecasts.Board director Leyland Brown questioned whether the issue may need to return sooner, pointing to a drop in new pharmacy technician registrations from 519 in 2024 to 441 in 2025.However, pharmacy technician director Jennifer Antunes cautioned against reading too much into the recent decline, calling it an “anomaly” tied to OCP’s switch from Structured Practical Training to the PACE assessment for pharmacy technician applicants at the end of 2024.Antunes acknowledged though that if any pharmacy technician programs at Ontario colleges close in the coming years, it could lead to fewer new registrations in the coming years.After the vote, registrar and CEO Jay O’Neill described the review as an example of the college responding to concerns from registrants.“We know that not everybody will be happy with every conclusion we make,” O’Neill said, but added that OCP had heard the feedback, reviewed the issue and brought its findings back to the board.OCP finalizes expanded-scope learning approachAt Tuesday’s meeting, the board also finalized its approach to learning for several anticipated areas of pharmacists’ expanded scope. The changes cover assessment and prescribing for acute pharyngitis, or sore throat; otitis externa, commonly known as swimmer’s ear; and herpes zoster, or shingles, as well as the administration of long-acting injectable buprenorphine for opioid-use disorder.The provincial government has not yet approved the scope changes, but OCP staff said Tuesday they expect approval “very soon.” In March, the board heavily debated how prescriptive training requirements should be, specifically as to whether pharmacists should have to complete specific training or make separate declarations of competence for individual activities.Under the approach approved Tuesday, it was confirmed that pharmacists would instead declare their competence through their existing annual declaration, with the OCP issuing guidance outlining the knowledge and skills pharmacists are expected to have before providing the services.For otoscopy—the use of an otoscope to examine the ear—pharmacists assessing swimmer’s ear will be expected to have training in otoscope use, but that learning can be completed virtually or in person. Hands-on experience will be encouraged rather than required.The guidance will be reviewed in two years as the activities become more established in pharmacy practice. Other board businessThe board also approved policy changes ahead of new federal Controlled Substances Regulations taking effect Oct. 1.Among them, pharmacies using central fill services will no longer need express consent from patients to share personal health information with the central fill pharmacy when relying on implied consent within the circle of care. Patients will still need be informed that the service is being used and that they can withdraw consent.As its last piece of business before going in camera, the board passed a motion to prioritize its work on safer-supply opioid dispensing. The move came after OCP learned that the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario plans to change its prescribing expectations for safer supply, which could affect pharmacies and pharmacy professionals.

OCP updates: Expanded-scope learning approach, no tech fee relief, controlled substance policy changes

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