Pharmacy technical assistants and pharmacy assistants

NOC

33103

Pharmacy technical assistants perform technical tasks related to preparing medications under a pharmacist's supervision. Pharmacy assistants perform clerical functions and assists pharmacists and pharmacy technicians with drug dispensing.

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Full NOC Description

Pharmacy technical assistants perform technical tasks related to preparing medications under a pharmacist's supervision. They also assist in filling prescriptions and managing patient files. Pharmacy assistants perform clerical functions and assists pharmacists and pharmacy technicians with drug dispensing tasks. Pharmacy technical assistants and pharmacy assistants are employed in retail and hospital pharmacies, long-term care facilities and by pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Main Duties

This group performs some or all of the following duties:

Assess prescriptions for completeness

Enter clients' information and prescription details in databases

Help pharmacists and other pharmacy staff with preparing, packaging and labelling of pharmaceutical products

Assist in maintaining inventories of medications and pharmaceutical products

Compound oral solutions, ointments and creams

May process medical billing information

May price and stock items on shelves.

Also Known As

pharmacy aide
pharmacy assistant
pharmacy technical assistant

Requirements

Employment Requirements

Pharmacy technical assistants usually require completion of up to two-years of a Pharmacy Technical Assistance vocational program.

Pharmacy assistants usually require completion of a Pharmacy Assistant college program, ranging from six to twelve months or completion of secondary school and several months of on-the-job training.

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

91.2%

Female

8.8%

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

21.1%

15-24

22.4%

25-34

21.1%

35-44

16.3%

45-54

18.4%

55-64

0.7%

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

40.1%

High School, Diploma or Equivalent

2.0%

Apprenticeship or Trades Certificate or Diploma

44.9%

College or University Below Bachelor Level

12.9%

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

94.6%

Retail trade

5.4%

Health care and social assistance

N/A

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

19.90%

Northeast

26.70%

Southeast

24.00%

Southwest

21.90%

Central

7.50%

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

$34,000

Northeast

$37,000

Southeast

$35,000

Southwest

$37,000

Central

$33,000

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).

Occupational Profiles