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The Pharmacy Technician Workforce in Canada - National Report Released!

(June 1, 2007)  Moving Forward and Vision Research (a division of Delta Media) have now completed and published The Pharmacy Technician Workforce in Canada: Roles, Demographics and Attitudes - a descriptive report from the first ever national demographic and attitudinal survey of pharmacy technicians in Canada. The findings from this important study include insights on the size and structure of the pharmacy technician workforce in Canada, and what pharmacists and pharmacy technicians think about the role, responsibilities, and credentialing of pharmacy technicians.
 
The study included responses from 2,087 practicing pharmacy technicians and assistants. In addition, a further 973 pharmacists who are managers or owners of their pharmacy (drawn from a sample of 3,000) completed a separate questionnaire. Together, the surveys of pharmacy technicians and of pharmacists generated considerable amounts of data and many important perspectives. Some national highlights of the study include:
 
  • 94% of pharmacy technician respondents are women, with an average age of 38.7 years.
  • 43% of pharmacy technician respondents work in hospitals and other related facilities; 37% in chain or franchise community pharmacies and 16% in independent community pharmacies.
  • 64% of technicians indicated a career college/ community college diploma as their highest level of education, while 20% indicated university and 16% reported high school.
  • The ratios of pharmacy technicians to pharmacists reported by respondents were lower than expected.  Respondents practicing in community settings reported between 1.00 and 1.13 technicians per pharmacist, while respondents practicing in  hospital settings reported between 1.10 and  1.32 technicians per pharmacist.  
  • While most technicians reported they are quite satisfied with their jobs on a number of variables, certain differences emerged between the opinions of hospital-based and community-based technicians. For example, 85% of community technicians are satisfied with the way their technical tasks are shared with pharmacists, while only 69% of hospital technicians are similarly satisfied.
  • Pharmacists and technicians both cited a lack of job or career growth opportunities for technicians as a key issue. Heavy workloads are also an important factor. 45% of technicians indicated they have “much too much” or “too much” to do, and 55% of pharmacists indicated they are similarly overloaded.
  • Technicians and pharmacists alike want national educational standards. More than 85% of pharmacists and technicians expressed support for national accreditation of community college programs. More than 65% of pharmacists and technicians expressed support for a community college diploma requirement for pharmacy technicians.
  • Pharmacy technicians are highly interested in moving towards regulation, even though it may require additional training and expanded duties. More than 8 in 10 (84%) pharmacy technicians expressed interest in becoming a Regulated Pharmacy Technician, of which 54% stated they would be “very interested”.
  • Pharmacists appear prepared to support their technicians’ quest for regulation. 85% of respondents reported they would likely delegate more responsibilities to their regulated pharmacy technicians, and 88% would likely provide mentoring. 
  • Certification of pharmacy technicians, whether voluntary or mandatory, was also positively received by respondents. 70% of pharmacy technicians and 65% of pharmacists supported voluntary certification, while 62% of pharmacy technicians and 66% of pharmacists supported mandatory certification.

The findings generated by this research will add to and support the work of the many organizations that are currently exploring and implementing the processes of expanding the role of pharmacy technicians. Moving Forward would like to acknowledge the support and assistance provided by such groups as the Ontario College of Pharmacists, the College of Pharmacists of British Columbia, the Canadian Association of Pharmacy Technicians and its chapters, the Canadian Council for Accreditation of Pharmacy Programs and the Pharmacy Examing Board of Canada in the development of these findings.   

This research presents many opportunities for more in-depth exploration on pharmacy technicians’ attitudes regarding their future. Moving Forward will be conducting focus groups to investigate some of these areas in the fall of 2007.

Please visit our Research and Reports page to download a complete copy of this report.

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This project is funded by the Government of Canada's Foreign Credential Recognition Program.