How Much Do Pharmacists Make in Canada? Wages by Province

This guide shows what pharmacists earn in Canada from two public sources, Job Bank wages and the 2021 Census, and explains the national exam and the provincial steps that lead to a licence. It is one of the health guides in the salary by profession hub; the guides to nurses’ pay and what optometrists earn use the same two sources.

Pharmacist wages from Job Bank

Job Bank puts the national median wage for pharmacists (NOC 31120) at $55.49 an hour. One in ten pharmacists earns $40.00 or less (the 10th percentile), and one in ten earns $67.00 or more (the 90th percentile). At 37.5 hours a week for 52 weeks (1,950 hours a year), the median works out to about $108,206 a year. That is a conversion, not a reported salary: a pharmacist working fewer or more hours earns a different annual amount at the same rate.

The national figures come from the Labour Force Survey, 2023-2024.

Source: Job Bank wages (Employment and Social Development Canada), NOC 31120. Low is the 10th percentile and high the 90th percentile of wages.

Pharmacist income in the 2021 Census

The Census gives an annual figure rather than an hourly one: the median employment income of pharmacists who worked the whole of 2020 full time, by province. These are 2020 incomes. The columns in today’s dollars only adjust the 2020 figures for inflation; they are not newer pay data, which is what the Job Bank table above is for.

Source: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population, Table 98-10-0586-01: employment income in 2020 of people who worked full year, full time. Columns in August 2026 dollars multiply the 2020 figure by the change in the Consumer Price Index from its 2020 average to August 2026 and round to the nearest $100; they are not newer survey results.

Statistics Canada counts as employment income “wages, salaries and commissions from paid employment and net self-employment income from farm or non-farm unincorporated business and/or professional practice”. A pharmacist who owns an unincorporated pharmacy is therefore included at their net business income. One who owns the store through a corporation and is paid in dividends is not fully captured: Statistics Canada notes that some self-employed workers receive dividends instead of earnings. Neither source publishes what pharmacy owners earn, so this guide doesn’t estimate it.

Pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pharmacy assistants

A pharmacy team spans three occupations with their own NOC codes. The national Job Bank wages for each:

Source: Job Bank wages (Employment and Social Development Canada), 2023-2024, Labour Force Survey. Low is the 10th percentile and high the 90th percentile of wages.

Exams and licensing

Pharmacists are licensed by the province or territory where they practise, not nationally. A licence starts with a degree from an approved pharmacy program. The Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada (PEBC) runs the national entry-to-practice exam: its Certificate of Qualification goes to candidates who pass the PEBC Qualifying Examination, Part I (MCQ) and Part II (OSCE). Every provincial and territorial regulator except Québec uses that certificate as one requirement for a licence. PEBC adds that each province has requirements of its own, such as practical experience, language proficiency, and jurisprudence examinations on pharmacy legislation and practice standards (PEBC, Qualifying Examination). PEBC’s certification pathway pages set out separate steps for Canadian, U.S. and international graduates.

Scope of practice

What a pharmacist may do beyond dispensing is set province by province. The Canadian Pharmacists Association says all pharmacists across Canada have some level of prescribing authority but this varies by jurisdiction, and keeps charts of prescribing, injection and publicly funded pharmacy services for each province on its scope of practice page. Neither Job Bank nor the Census breaks pharmacist pay down by scope or by work setting (community, hospital, industry), so this guide gives no figures for them.

Related guides

Income tax on a pharmacist’s salary works as it does on any employment income; the income tax calculator shows take-home pay by province. For a pharmacy owned through a corporation, see the incorporated professional tax guide. Other health guides in this hub cover physiotherapists, dentists and doctors.