Pharmacy technicians

NOC

32124

perform technical functions relating to prescriptions including, inventory control, gathering patients' information, and preparing and distributing product.

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Full NOC Description

Pharmacy technicians perform technical functions relating to prescriptions including gathering patients' information, product preparation, product distribution and inventory control. They work closely with pharmacists to provide pharmaceutical care to clients. Pharmacy technicians are employed in retail and hospital pharmacies, long-term care facilities and by pharmaceutical manufacturers. Pharmacy technicians who are supervisors are included in this unit group.

Main Duties

This group performs some or all of the following duties:

Assist pharmacists to maintain inventories of medications and prescription records of pharmaceutical products

Assess prescriptions for completeness and ensure information is accurate

Gather and enter client information in databases and prepare medications for clients in collaboration with pharmacists

Compound pharmaceutical products such as intravenous injections, oral solutions, ointments and creams

Process payment of prescriptions and other pharmacy services including direct billing to third party insurers

Provide instructions on how to use health aids, and medical devices such as drug administration devices and monitoring devices

May help with scheduling and workflow.

Also Known As

pharmacy technician
pharmacy technician supervisor

Requirements

Employment Requirements

Pharmacy technicians usually require a two-year pharmacy technician college program or completion of a two- to three-year college program in pharmaceutics and supervised practical training.

Completion of the Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada (PEBC) certification exams is required for pharmacy technicians.

Registration with a regulatory body is required for pharmacy technicians in all provinces except Quebec.

Provincial Regulation

Not Provincially Regulated

Employment by Sex

The following graph shows the percentage of men and women working in this occupation in New Brunswick.

Data legend

93.9%

Female

6.1%

Male

Employment by age

The following graph shows the breakdown of all persons working in this occupation in New Brunswick by age group.

Data legend

15.5%

15-24

29.3%

25-34

32.8%

35-44

19.0%

45-54

3.4%

55-64

0.0%

65+

Employment by highest level of education

The following graph shows the breakdown of all persons working in this occupation in New Brunswick by highest level of education achieved.

Data legend

0.0%

No Certificate, Diploma or Degree

12.9%

High School, Diploma or Equivalent

6.9%

Apprenticeship or Trades Certificate or Diploma

71.6%

College or University Below Bachelor Level

8.6%

University - Bachelor Level or Above

Employment by Industry

The following graph shows the industry groups in which the largest shares of persons working in this occupation in New Brunswick are employed. Small percentages for all top three industry groups may suggest employment for this occupation is widely distributed amongst many industry groups.

Data legend

70.7%

Retail trade

26.7%

Health care and social assistance

N/A

2.6%

All Other Industries

Employment by Economic Regions

The following graph shows the breakdown of all persons employed in this occupation in New Brunswick by which economic region they reside in.

Data legend

27.00%

Northeast

26.10%

Southeast

23.50%

Southwest

13.00%

Central

10.40%

Northwest

Economic Regions

The following map displays New Brunswick’s five economic regions. An economic region (ER) is a grouping of counties, created as a standard unit for analysis of regional economic activity across Canada.

Annual Average Salary by Economic Regions

The following graph shows the average salary of all persons employed in this occupation in each of New Brunswick’s five economic regions.

Data legend

$39,500

Northeast

$47,000

Southeast

$52,000

Southwest

$40,000

Central

$37,000

Northwest

Economic Regions

Hourly Median Wages by Economic Regions

The following represents the median hourly wage of all persons employed in this occupation in each of New Brunswick’s five economic regions.

Salary

The following shows the average salary of everyone who worked full-time and year-round in this occupation across each of the Atlantic Provinces and nationally.

Employment Outlook

The following represents the number of job openings that are expected to occur in this occupation over the next three and ten years respectively, broken down by openings expected to result from growth (“new jobs”) and openings expected to result from attrition (death and retirements).

Three Year Outlook

No Data Available

Occupational Profiles