ONTARIO EXPANDING SCOPE OF PRACTICE FOR PHARMACISTS AND OTHER HEALTH
PROFESSIONALS
Province allowing pharmacists to administer additional vaccines for six diseases
and prescribe for nine more common ailments
May 11, 2026
Ministry of HealthTORONTO — To protect Ontario’s health-care system and provide more connected and
convenient care to people around the province, the government is allowing
pharmacists to administer additional publicly funded vaccines that protect
against six diseases and assess and prescribe for a further nine common
ailments. This historic expansion of their scope of practice will improve access
to care and reduce pressure on the health-care system by empowering health
professionals to provide care to the full extent of their training and making
pharmacies a one-stop location for convenient, everyday care.
“Our government is delivering on our plan to make it more convenient for people
to access the care they need, closer to home,” said Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier
and Minister of Health. “Ontarians have experienced firsthand the convenience of
pharmacist prescribing and today’s announcement continues our progress to reduce
wait times and let more of our province’s health-care professionals work to the
full extent of their expertise”.
Beginning July 2026, pharmacists across the province will be able to administer
six additional publicly funded vaccines for eligible Ontarians, including
* Tetanus
* Pertussis
* Diphtheria
* Pneumococcal
* RSV
* Shingles vaccines
Under the current model, these publicly funded vaccines are only available to
patients through a visit to a doctor’s office, walk-in clinic or other clinical
settings. Under the new expanded scope of practice, families will now be able to
receive critical vaccines more easily at thousands of additional locations
across the province, with pharmacy technicians and qualified staff able to
administer all eligible vaccines.
The province is also allowing pharmacists to assess and prescribe for nine
additional common ailments, with plans to add up to five more in early 2027,
bringing the total expanded number up to 33. Starting July 2026, pharmacists and
qualified health-care practitioners will be able to treat the following
ailments:
* Calluses and corns
* Dandruff
* Dry eye
* Head lice
* Jock itch
* Mild headache
* Nasal congestion
* Ringworm
* Warts
This expansion builds on the province’s previous actions to increase scope of
practice which has seen Ontario pharmacies provide care in over 2.4 million
assessments for the first 19 common ailments.
Today, over 99 per cent of all Ontario’s pharmacies now participate in the
program, connecting people to care in every corner of the province.
In addition to these changes, the government has now officially directed
Ontario’s regulatory colleges for optometrists, physiotherapists, chiropractors,
dental hygienists, denturists, and audiologists and speech-language pathologists
to begin developing the regulatory framework that would further expand scopes of
practice in their fields.
These future expansions will unlock additional capacity across the system by
enabling professionals to deliver treatments and perform more procedures,
helping people get faster access to care. Once implemented, these changes will
improve access for those in rural, northern, Indigenous and underserved
communities, while reducing wait times and easing pressure on primary care and
emergency departments.
As part of Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care,
the Ontario government is strengthening all aspects of the health-care system,
including making it easier for highly skilled, regulated health-care
professionals, like pharmacists, to work to the full extent of their training
and expertise to provide people more connected and convenient care.
QUICK FACTS
* Pharmacist assessment of common ailments began in January 2023, with an
initial 13 ailments, and was expanded in October 2023 to include six
additional ailments.
* Ontario is not proceeding with scope expansions related to psychologists at
this time, given the ongoing governance review involving the College of
Psychologists and Behaviour Analysts of Ontario.
* The province also allows pharmacists to administer certain injection and
inhalation treatments so they can better care for people who need help taking
certain medications, such as insulin, vitamin B12 or osteoporosis treatment.
* On July 1, 2022, regulatory amendments came into force under the Laboratory
and Specimen Collection Centre Licensing Act, allowing pharmacy professionals
to collect specimens and perform the following point-of-care tests for the
purpose of medication management to treat chronic disease: Glucose, HbA1c,
Lipids, and PT/INR.
QUOTES
“Pharmacists play a critical role in improving access to timely, high-quality
health care across Ontario, and expanded scope enables them to meet patients
where and when care is needed most. At the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, we
are training practice ready pharmacists—through innovation, hands on learning
and an accelerated, three-year Doctor of Pharmacy program—to fully deliver on
this expanded role. Today’s announcement strengthens our health system by
ensuring Ontarians benefit from a workforce prepared to provide care now and
into the future.”
– Dr. Lisa Dolovich
Dean, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto
“The Ontario Pharmacists Association welcomes the Ontario government’s ongoing
efforts to expand the scope of practice for pharmacy professionals. Building on
the strong foundation of community pharmacy, these changes will enable
pharmacists to treat more minor ailments and deliver a broader range of routine
vaccines—making it easier for patients to access care close to home. Pharmacy
professionals remain one of the most accessible points of care, and this
expansion is a practical step forward. We look forward to continuing to work
with the province to improve access to care for Ontarians.”
– Justin Bates
Chief Executive Officer, Ontario Pharmacists Association
“We applaud the Ontario government’s continued leadership in improving access to
care for patients across the province. Ontarians have consistently told us they
value the accessible and trusted care they receive from their community
pharmacies and want pharmacy teams to play a greater role in delivering health
care closer to home. Expanding access to minor ailments assessments and publicly
funded vaccines through pharmacies will help improve timely access to care in
communities across Ontario. These important enhancements will help strengthen
the health-care system and help Ontarians access the care they need, when and
where they need it most.”
– Sandra Hanna
Chief Executive Officer, Neighbourhood Pharmacy Association of Canada
“The Ontario Association of Optometrists is encouraged by the government’s
commitment to advancing scope of practice. These changes recognize the training
and expertise of optometrists and represent a meaningful step toward modernizing
eye care in Ontario. By enabling optometrists to provide a broader range of
services, patients will benefit from faster access to care, improved outcomes
and reduced pressure on emergency departments, supporting a more efficient
health system. We look forward to continuing to work with government to build on
this progress.”
– Dr. Shaina Nensi
President, Board of Directors, Ontario Association of Optometrists
“The OPA celebrates this announcement by Minister Jones and its recognition of
the role of physiotherapists in expanding timely access to care for patients.
Enabling physiotherapists to order diagnostic imaging supports efficient,
effective and accessible care for patients across Ontario. With increasing
integration and optimization of our professional scope of practice, we are
better positioned to work with interprofessional primary care teams and in
combination with the promise of expanding digital access, physiotherapists are
not only ready— but now empowered— to play a greater role in Ontario’s health
system. We look forward to our continued collaboration with the Ministry of
Health and the College of Physiotherapists of Ontario as we work together to
bring this change to life for patients.”
– Sarah Hutchison and Charlotte Anderson
Chief Executive Officer and President, Ontario Physiotherapy Association
“The Ontario Chiropractic Association has long advocated to expand scope of
practice for chiropractors to match their training and expertise in
musculoskeletal care to support patients in Ontario. We are pleased to see the
Ontario government taking steps to authorize chiropractors to directly order
diagnostic ultrasounds for their patients. On behalf of our 4,000 members, we
want to thank the government for moving forward with this change to provide
patients in Ontario with more connected, timely, and convenient care closer to
home.”
– Caroline Brereton
Chief Executive Officer, Ontario Chiropractic Association
“The Ontario Dental Hygienists’ Association applauds the government’s decision
to move forward scope enhancement for Registered Dental Hygienists (RDHs).
Authorizing RDHs to prescribe X-rays, be designated as Radiation Protection
Officers, and administer local anesthetic by injection will significantly
improve access to comprehensive oral care for all Ontarians. We thank Minister
Jones for her leadership on this initiative and look forward to continuing to
work collaboratively with the government and the College of Dental Hygienists of
Ontario to enable RDHs to practise more fully within their scope of practice and
provide important preventive oral care services to more Ontarians.”
– Marg Harrington
Chief Executive Officer, Ontario Dental Hygienists Association
“We welcome the Minister of Health’s announcement and the directive to the
regulatory college as a significant step toward modernizing the Denturist’s
scope of practice. This initiative reflects a thoughtful and evidence-informed
approach to strengthening the health-care system and improving timely access to
care. As the DAO, we are committed to collaborative, team-based leadership that
advances shared priorities. We recognize and appreciate the government’s
continued engagement and leadership in supporting regulatory advancement to
scope of practice that benefits both providers and patients. We look forward to
working alongside health care and regulatory partners throughout this process to
help ensure implementation is practical, sustainable and centred on delivering
high-quality, accessible care for Ontarians.”
– Anas Al Halabi
President, Denturists Association of Ontario
“SAC welcomes the Ontario Ministry of Health’s direction to expand scopes of
practice to enable speech-language pathologists to order videofluoroscopic
swallow studies as well as order and apply diagnostic ultrasound. When
implemented, these changes will recognize our profession’s training and
knowledge and will improve access to timely, evidence-based assessment and
treatment across the lifespan. SAC looks forward to working collaboratively with
government and regulatory partners to support implementation in the best
interest of Ontarians.”
– Luciana Nechita
Chief Executive Officer, Speech-Language & Audiology Canada
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
* Expanding Scope of Practice for Regulated Health Professionals
* Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care
* More information about the types of health care services you can get through
your local pharmacy can be found here
