Canadian Pharmacy Technician Programs

A new program that has no students enrolled but has appointed a coordinator or director  may be granted qualifying accreditation. The granting of qualifying status confirms that a College’s  planning for the pharmacy technician program has taken into account CCAPP standards and suggests reasonable assurances of moving to the next step, the award of provisional accreditation.

Qualifying accreditation is generally permitted for up to two years, during which the program is expected to apply for provisional accreditation (provided the program has admitted students).  A program that has held qualifying status for two years but has not admitted its first class of students will be withdrawn from the pre-accreditation process unless information is provided by the college to satisfy the board that the program is making progress toward actual initiation.

Qualifying Accreditation status brings no rights and privileges of accreditation.  Full disclosure by the College of the term and conditions of this award is required.  The program is required to apply for accreditation during the term of the Qualifying Accreditation award.  If the program fails to apply for accreditation during the term of the Qualifying Accreditation award but goes on to admit and graduate students during that same time frame, the students are not considered to be graduates of an accredited program.

A new program that has students enrolled but has not graduated a class of students may be granted provisional accreditation. The granting of the provisional accreditation award denotes a developmental program that is expected to mature in accord with stated plans and within a defined time period. Reasonable assurances are expected that the program will be eligible for other categories of accreditation as programmatic experiences are gained, generally, by the time the first class has graduated.

A Provisional Accreditation award ends when the first admitted class has graduated.  The program is required to apply for accreditation during the term of the Provisional Accreditation award.

Graduates from a school designated as having provisional accreditation will be deemed by CCAPP to be graduates of an accredited program.

Evaluation reports from all pharmacy technician program site visits are referred to the CCAPP Pharmacy Technician Program Committee (PTPC).  The PTPC reviews the evaluation report and, with the assistance of CCAPP staff, make a recommendation for an accreditation award to the CCAPP Board. In arriving at at decision, the board considers the accreditation history of the program; the application, the comprehensive internal review report and strategic plan submitted by the program; the site visit evaluation report; the College’s response to the evaluation report; and, any other relevant information.  In-person presentations to the Board from the College regarding their accreditation review will occur only at the request of the board.

Initial or continued Accreditation status is granted for up to five years if it has been demonstrated to the satisfaction of CCAPP that the program complies with accreditation standards, including the appropriateness of program goals, the adequacy of resources and organization to meet these goals, educational outcomes which indicate these goals are being met, and that plans and commitments are in place to provide reasonable assurance that these goals will continue to be met.

All programs receiving an Accreditation award are required to submit an interim progress report at some point over the duration of the accreditation period. The due date of this interim progress report will be specified in the accreditation award letter. The required interim report should cover the period of time since the last comprehensive internal review report and include: changes in the academic program; changes in the financial resources available to the Faculty; changes in the academic staff; steps taken to deal with deficiencies identified in the site visit evaluation report; and, progress made in the implementation of the approved strategic plan; and, progress toward achieving Accreditation Standards that were published since the last site visit.

Conditional Accreditation reflects that there are concerns about the progress in addressing requirements of the Standards.  The timing of a Progress report will depend on the nature of the deficiencies.  Subject to the receipt of a Progress report and upon review of the extent to which deficiencies have been met, the Board may change the award to Accredited, if concerns have been adequately addressed, or Probation, if satisfactory progress has not been achieved.

Probationary Accreditation reflects that the program fails to comply with standards, or the program has minimal or non-compliance to some standards over two or more survey cycles that result in serious weaknesses in one or more major components of a program.  The maximum term of Probationary Accreditation is eighteen months.  An unannounced visit by CCAPP and Ministry officials may occur at any time during the probationary period at the program’s expense.

Within six months of receiving notice of Probationary Accreditation, the institution is required to show cause why the probationary status should be rescinded or to present sufficient evidence of improvement, or plans for improvement, to warrant restoration of conditional accreditation or accreditation.  It is the responsibility of the program and the college to address the non-compliance by submitting additional information, correcting the weaknesses in the deficient component, or considering whether the program should cease operation.  The chief executive officer of the institution and the Program Coordinator/Lead are given due notice of the Board’s decision to award Probationary Accreditation.

It is important that all constituents understand that a major goal of CCAPP is “to assist in the advancement and improvement of pharmaceutical education”. Hence, should a program receive probationary accreditation status, it is important that the College regularly seek CCAPP’s advice on the appropriate course of action to be followed.

Should the institution not demonstrate a commitment to rectifying identified deficiencies within one year after the six-month period given to show cause, the Board will withdraw Accreditation.

Circumstances that would warrant withdrawal of accreditation are:

• The program fails to meet the requirements of the Accreditation Standards.
• Probationary Accreditation has been awarded and the program fails to address the required changes to achieve the basic structures, processes, and intended educational outcomes.
• The accredited program is revised an no longer meets the requirements of the CCAPP Accreditation Standard (e.g., conversion to a program intended to develop pharmacy assistants, etc.).
• The accredited program is without a graduate for a period of one year and has no registrants for a new cohort to commence within the same year.
• The program fails to submit progress reports to the CCAPP Board in a timely fashion.
• False or misleading statements are made publicly about the status, condition, or category of CCAPP Accreditation.
• The program has Accreditation Fees in arrears for a time period in excess of 120 days.
• The program ceases to operate.

Withdrawal of Accreditation becomes effective immediately.  If a program has received a Withdrawal of Accreditation award, the institution is required to submit a new request for accreditation.  The College must immediately advise students in the program, those who have been admitted to but not yet started the program, and applicants to the program that a Withdrawal of Accreditation award has been issued to the program.  The CCAPP Chief Executive Officer notifies the Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada, all Registrars of Canadian provincial pharmacy regulatory authorities, and the Provincial Ministry responsible for the school that a Withdrawal Accreditation award has been made.

Site visits normally will be conducted any time over a five year period for programs granted Accreditation or Conditional Accreditation. For programs on probationary accreditation, a site visit normally will be required prior to the restoration of Conditional Accreditation or Accreditation. Requests to defer a scheduled site visit will only be granted in exceptional circumstances, subsequent to a well-justified request from the college.

In a very general way, each school seeking accreditation is asked to define what it wants to achieve with its professional program – i.e. what is its mission – what are the intended outcomes?  It is asked to demonstrate that it has a program and the resources to produce those outcomes.  It is asked to have procedures for evaluating whether or not the desired outcomes are achieved.  Finally, it is asked to have a plan for correcting deficiencies and for incorporating new ideas into its program.

1. The College/Program makes application for accreditation under CCAPP. The application is composed of three sets of documents:
   1. Application for Accreditation – providing information on personnel, budgets, enrolment, etc.
   2. Self-Assessment Report (also know as a Self-Study) – Guided by the Examples of Evidence for each Standard, this report provides in-depth information about the program.  The focus is on the present and the time since the last visit (i.e. “where we have been and where we are”).
   3. Strategic Plan – detailing the Program’s most current plan.  The plan focuses on “where you want to go and how you plan to get there”.
2. A site visit evaluation of the Program is conducted by a three or four-member team composed of a CCAPP board member, the CCAPP Coordinator of Pharmacy Technician Programs , a pharmacy technician program faculty member, and the CCAPP Chief Executive Officer. The appropriate provincial regulatory authority (authorities) is (are) invited to appoint an observer to each site visit evaluation team.
   The team seeks information to supplement the Self-Assessment Report, determines the feasibility of the Strategic Plan, and prepares a draft report.
3. The CCAPP Coordinator prepares a final report on the school that is submitted for consideration by the Pharmay Technician Program Committee (PTPC).  PTPC makes recommendations to the CCAPP board of directors.
4. The board of directors makes a decision on the appropriate accreditation status to be granted to the pharmacy technician program and determines the time period and/or any conditions to be associated with the accreditation award.
5. The College and the Program Coordinator/Lead are advised of the board’s decision and the accreditation status is published in the CCAPP Annual Directory.

Accreditation awards are granted for a specific term. Thus, an ongoing cycle of self-assessment, strategic planning and external review is established within each pharmacy school.

(Effective 10 June 2024)

• Ms. Tana Yoon, Chair (CCAPP Board Member)
• Ms. Angela Roach (PEBC 2024 – 2 year appointment – renewable)
• Ms. Sonja Baettig (CPTEA/Public Colleges 2020, 2022, 2024*)
• Dr. Amy Marriott (CSHP 2021* – 4 year appointment)
• Ms. Crystal Lane  (CPTEA/Public Colleges 2023 – 2 year appointment – renewable)
• Ms. Angela Martin-Dallon  (CAPT 2024– 2 year appointment – renewable)
• Ms. Lisa Rogue (CPTEA/Private Colleges 2024 – 2 year appointment – renewable)
• Ms. Tracey McEachern (CPhA 2023 – 2 year appointment- renewable)
• Ms. Karen Barberie (CPTEA/Private Colleges 2020, 2022, 2024*)

* Indicates a member is serving their final term on the Committee

1. Make recommendations to the CCAPP Board about the accreditation award that should be conferred on a pharmacy technician program.
2. Provide advice to the CCAPP board regarding CCAPP’s accreditation service to pharmacy technician programs.

1. Review accreditation survey findings and progress reports from pharmacy technician programs, to arrive at recommendations regarding the accreditation award that should be conferred on a pharmacy technician program.
2. Provide advice about services that CCAPP might offer to assist programs in achieving the Standards.
3. Provide advice about changes to accreditation standards and processes used by CCAPP with respect to pharmacy technician programs.
4. Promote consensus, cooperation, participation and learning among all members.

The committee comprises members that represent key stakeholders in approximately equal numbers – pharmacy technician educators, and persons knowledgeable about the pharmacy technician profession.  Members are nominated by partnering organizations; the most suitable nominee is appointed to the Committee by the CCAPP Board.  Both private and public colleges should be represented among committee members.  To the extent possible, the majority of committee members are pharmacy technicians.

The CCAPP Board will appoint the chair of PTPC following procedures defined in the bylaws for standing committees.

• Canadian Pharmacy Technician Educators Association (4 members)
• Canadian Pharmacists Association (1 member)
• Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists (1 member)
• Canadian Association of Pharmacy Technicians (1 member)
• Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada (1 member)

• CCAPP Chief Executive Officer (1 member)
• CCAPP Coordinator, Pharmacy Technician Programs Accreditation (1 member)

The Board sends a Call for Nominees to the partnering organization.  The Call for Nominees lists required qualifications to achieve the required composition of the committee, as well as desired qualification to achieve a suitable mix of other skills and attributes in the committee as a whole.  The partnering organization solicits and advances, to CCAPP, the letter of interest/CV of 3 nominees for each of its vacant/to-be vacated positions.  Upon receiving the list of nominees from the partnering organization, the CCAPP Executive Committee identifies the most suitable nominee for each position and the Executive Committee recommends that the Board appoints the individual(s) to the committee.

2 years, renewable for 2 additional terms of 2 years each (6 years total) upon completion of the first appointment.

The Committee identifies its funding needs for the next fiscal year, if any, and submits it to the Chief Executive Officer in December annually.

• The Committee meets at least twice per year, usually by teleconference.
• Quorum is 50% of voting members plus 1
• Minutes are recorded of the committee’s deliberations and matters requiring a vote.
• A simple majority in voting will approve the motion.

• The Committee reports to the Board on matters related to Objective 1 after each meeting
• The Committee makes at least one report per year regarding progress, activity and recommendation, if any, regarding Objectives 2 to 4.

Committee members are subject to policies (e.g., conflict of interest; confidentiality; expense reimbursement) approved by the CCAPP board.