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Volume 68, No. 12

135/2025

The British Columbia Gazette,

Part II

July 29, 2025

B.C. Reg. 135/2025 , deposited July 16, 2025, under the HEALTH PROFESSIONS AND OCCUPATIONS ACT [sections 25 and 27]. Ministerial Order M223/2025, dated July 16, 2025.

I, Josie Osborne, Minister of Health, order that, effective April 1, 2026,

(

a) the Pharmacists Regulation, B.C. Reg. 417/2008, is repealed, and

(

b) the attached Pharmacists Regulation is made.

— J. OSBORNE, Minister of Health .

PHARMACISTS REGULATION

Contents

Part 1 – General Matters

Definitions

Designation of health profession

Regulator

Part 2 – Practice of Pharmacy

Division 1 – General Practice

Exclusive titles

Scope of practice for pharmacy

Practice standards

Division 2 – Full Restricted Activities

List of full restricted activities

Division 3 – Limited Restricted Activities

List of limited restricted activities

Diagnoses

Drugs

Definitions respecting drugs and devices

Limits on prescription renewals

Limits on adapting prescriptions

Restricted activities if certified

Appendix

Part 1 – General Matters

Definitions

1 In this regulation:

"device" has the same meaning as in the Pharmacy Operations and Drug Scheduling Act ;

"pharmacist" means a licensee who is authorized to practise pharmacy;

"pharmacy" means the health profession in which a person provides the types of health services referred to in

section 5 [scope of practice for pharmacy] .

Designation of health profession

2 Pharmacy continues to be designated as a designated health profession for the purposes of the Act.

Regulator

3 The College of Pharmacists of British Columbia is the regulator responsible for governing the designated health profession referred to in

section 2.

Part 2 – Practice of Pharmacy

Division 1 – General Practice

Exclusive titles

4 Except as permitted under the Act, only a pharmacist who is authorized under the bylaws to do so may use the titles "apothecary", "druggist", "pharmacist", "pharmaceutical chemist" and "pharmacy technician".

Scope of practice for pharmacy

(1) The following types of health services, provided primarily for the purposes set out in subsection (2), constitute the scope of practice for pharmacy:

(

a) assessing the health status of patients for the purpose of providing the health services referred to in paragraphs (b), (

c) and (d);

(

b) identifying and assessing drug- and device-related problems and preventing and resolving those problems;

(

c) monitoring drug therapy;

(

d) preventing, treating and managing diseases, disorders and conditions through drug therapy;

(

e) performing the restricted activities of compounding drugs and dispensing drugs and devices;

(

f) advising on the therapeutic values, contents and hazards of drugs and devices.

(2) The primary purposes for providing health services in the practice of pharmacy are to promote, maintain and restore physical and mental health.

Practice standards

(1) The board must make bylaws establishing or adopting practice standards respecting the performance, by pharmacists, of the following activities:

(

a) the dispensing of substances and drugs for use in medical assistance in dying;

(

b) the making of diagnoses as described in

section 9 [diagnoses] ;

(

c) the prescribing of drugs as described in

section 10 (1) [drugs] ;

(

d) the administration of substances and drugs as described in

section 14 [restricted activities if certified] .

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1) (

b) and (

c) of this section, at least one of the persons from whom the board must seek advice under

section 361 of the Act must be a medical practitioner who is confirmed to be suitable by the regulatory college that is responsible for governing the designated health profession of medicine.

Division 2 – Full Restricted Activities

List of full restricted activities

7 A pharmacist may perform the restricted activities described in items 50 to 52 [therapeutic diets] of the Restricted Activities Table.

Division 3 – Limited Restricted Activities

List of limited restricted activities

8 A pharmacist may perform the restricted activities described in the following items of the Restricted Activities Table, but only as provided for in this Division:

(

a) item 1 [diagnoses] ;

(

b) items 11 and 12 [administering substances] ;

(

c) items 46 to 49 [drugs] .

Diagnoses

9 A pharmacist may diagnose a disease, disorder or condition that is described in Column 1 of the Appendix if all of the following conditions are met:

(

a) the disease, disorder or condition, in the form indicated by the patient’s signs and symptoms,

(

i) presents a low risk of masking an underlying disease, disorder or condition, and

(ii) can be readily diagnosed without the need for laboratory or imaging tests;

(

b) the patient’s signs or symptoms can be reasonably expected to resolve with only short-term or episodic treatment.

Drugs

(1) A pharmacist may prescribe a

Schedule I drug for the following purposes:

(

a) contraception or emergency contraception;

(

b) treating a disease, disorder or condition diagnosed under

section 9, if the drug is within a drug category shown opposite the disease, disorder or condition in Column 2 of the Appendix.

(2) Subject to sections 12 and 13 [limits on prescription renewals and contrary dispensing] , a pharmacist may compound or dispense

Schedule I, IA or II drugs.

Definitions respecting drugs and devices

11 In sections 12 and 13:

"bylaw" includes a bylaw within the meaning of the Pharmacy Operations and Drug Scheduling Act ;

"interchangeable drug" means a drug that, in relation to a drug referred to in a prescription,

(

a) contains the same amount of the same active ingredients,

(

b) possesses comparable pharmacokinetic properties,

(

c) has the same clinically significant formulation characteristics, and

(

d) is to be administered in the same way;

"program or protocol specifications" means the specifications established under either of the following:

(

a) a therapeutic interchange program within the meaning of the Pharmacy Operations and Drug Scheduling Act that is approved by the governing body of a hospital or by the board;

(

b) a protocol that

(

i) is intended to optimize the therapeutic outcome of treatment with the drug or device referred to in a prescription, and

(ii) is approved by the governing body or board referred to in paragraph (a).

Limits on prescription renewals

12 A pharmacist must not renew a prescription unless one of the following applies:

(

a) the renewal is authorized under a bylaw for a professional reason described in the bylaw;

(

b) the renewal is within program or protocol specifications.

Limits on adapting prescriptions

13 A pharmacist must not dispense a drug or device referred to in a prescription in a manner or quantity that is not authorized in the prescription unless one of the following applies:

(

a) the adaptation is authorized under a bylaw for a professional reason described in the bylaw;

(

b) the adaptation is within program or protocol specifications;

(

c) the prescription quantity does not conform to available package sizes;

(

d) the drug being dispensed is an interchangeable drug and all of the following conditions are met:

(

i) the price to the purchaser does not exceed that of the drug referred to in the prescription;

(ii) the prescriber did not indicate, orally or in writing at the time the prescription was issued, either of the following:

(

A) that only the drug of a specified manufacturer is to be dispensed;

(

B) that no interchangeable drug is to be dispensed.

Restricted activities if certified

14 A certified pharmacist may do all of the following:

(

a) administer a substance or a

Schedule I, IA, II or III drug intranasally or by intradermal, intramuscular or subcutaneous injection;

(

b) administer a substance by any method for the purpose of treating anaphylaxis arising from the performance of a restricted activity described under paragraph (a).

Appendix

(sections 9 and 10 [diagnoses and drugs])

Diagnoses and Prescribable Drugs

Column 1

Disease, disorder or condition

Column 2

Drug category

Acne

Topical drugs

Allergic rhinitis

Intranasal drugs, including antihistamine drugs

Ophthalmic drugs, including antihistamine drugs

Oral antihistamine drugs

Conjunctivitis (allergic, bacterial or viral)

Ophthalmic drugs

Dermatitis (allergic, atopic, contact, diaper or seborrheic)

Topical drugs

Dysmenorrhea

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs

Dyspepsia

Gastric acid-reducing drugs

Fungal infections (Onychomycosis, Tinea corporis infection, Tinea cruris infection or Tinea pedis infection)

Topical drugs

Gastroesophageal reflux disease

Gastric acid-reducing drugs

Headache

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs

Hemorrhoids

Topical drugs

Herpes labialis

Topical drugs, including antiviral drugs Other types of antiviral drugs

Impetigo

Topical drugs

Musculoskeletal pain

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs

Nicotine dependence

Nicotine cessation drugs

Oral ulcers (canker sores or aphthous ulcers)

Topical drugs

Oropharyngeal candidiasis

Antifungal drugs

Shingles

Antiviral drugs

Threadworms or pinworms

Anthelmintic drugs

Urinary tract infection (uncomplicated)

Antibiotic drugs

Urticaria, including insect bites

Topical drugs, including antihistamine drugs

Other types of antihistamine drugs

Vaginal candidiasis

Antifungal drugs

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