canadian pharmacists

This information is based on an article published in ‘Pharmacypractice’, one of the professional journals for Canadian pharmacists. This information was obtained from IMS Health Canada database.

This year the total number of prescriptions dispensed in Canadian retail pharmacies is increased by 8.2%, compared to 5.7% in 2006. Canadians spent $20.7 billion on prescription medications in their retail pharmacies (including dispensing fees) on the 448 million scripts they filled from October 2006 to September 2007.

Generic prescriptions (47.2% of all prescriptions filled) grew by 15.6% where as the growth rate for brand scripts was recorded as only 2.3%. Each Canadian filled an average of 14 prescriptions during this one-year period, at an average retail price of $46.16 per script.

I was talking about “New legislation that expands pharmacist role in Alberta, Canada…” in my previous blog post, here you go, British Columbia, Canada, is also introducing something similar. In September 2007, the council of the College of Pharmacists of British columbia (CPBC) approved a protocol to guide pharmacists in medication management.

Based an article published in one of the pharmacy information sources, some experts say that there is a real threat that Canada may have too many pharmacists in the near future. Increasing enrollment at pharmacy faculties across the country, combined with the continuing influx of foreign-trained pharmacists mean there will be many pharmacists looking for jobs. According to Frank Abbott, executive director of the Association of Deans of Pharmacy of Canada, soon Canada will graduate 1200 pharmacists every year, up from 780 in the year 2000, which is about 35% growth in pharmacists. On the other hand, more pharmacists will be coming into the scene when the new faculty at the University of Waterloo begins graduating an estimated 120 pharmacy students every year. Mr. Abbott thinks that it’s going to become more competitive….Is it going to be true?

According to a new Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) report, the number of pharmacists in Canada has increased from 22, 197 in 1995 to 29, 471 in 2005. The study found that in 2006 the average of pharmacists was 43 years, more than half were females and 75% worked in community practice. Prince Edward Island showed the greatest percentage increase at 42.9%, with Alberta showing the smallest increase at 12.8%. The Northwest Territories showed a 40.5% decrease. The number of pharmacists per population served was lowest in the Northwest Territories, followed by New Brunswick and Ontario. The number of unemployed pharmacists seeking employment was 1,778 or 8.6% of the pharmacist workforce.

From the provinces for whom data was available, Ontario and Nova Scotia had the highest percentage of pharmacists who were either unemployed or employed in an area other than pharmacy.

Intresting isn’t it!