Pharmacist growth versus population in Canada, CIHI report:

It was quite interesting to know about pharmacist’s database (PDB) in Canada. I was reading an article in one of the pharmaceutical journals, CPJ, and surprised to know about pharmacists growth versus Canadian population. Read this,

Total number of active pharmacists registered in Canada grew by almost 33% between 1995 and 2005 where as the Canadian population grew by only 10 % over that period, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). There were 29,471 registered pharmacists in 2005, an increase of more than 7200 over the decade, says CIHI.

Higher pharmacist growth was seen in Prince Edward Island by 42.9% in comparison to other provinces in Canada. On the other hand, Northwest Territories showing 40.5% decline. Overall one third of pharmacists are in Ontario.

According to the CIHI’s database from 6 provinces and 2 territories (BC, Alberta, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Yukon and Northwest territories) there were 17,664 employed pharmacists. Women make up the largest proportion of the pharmacists workforce in all jurisdictions, except for the Northwest Territories, where there is an equal number of males and females. The average age of pharmacists recorded is 43 years. At least three quarters of pharmacists work in community pharmacies.

CIHI developed the Pharmacist Database (PDB) to collect more information to inform human resource planning for the profession.