by Paul Carvalho | Last updated: Oct. 11, 2017
The median salary of a pharmacist in Ontario is $99,374 CAD per year, according to the Government of Canada Job Bank. This was based on the 2011 National Household Survey, which was updated on November 16, 2015. The range in salaries was a low of $48,361 and the high of $148,365.
But Ontario is a big place! So we need to look a little closer to make any sense of things. Next up: a look at pharmacist salaries in different cities across Ontario.
Pharmacist Salaries in Ontario by Major Cities:
Pharmacist salaries are typically lower in major urban areas and in cities that have a pharmacy college. Ontario had 91.5% of its pharmacists working in urban areas in 2012, the second-highest rate among the provinces after British Columbia at 92.6%.
Toronto has by far the lowest pharmacist salary in Ontario. This is because the supply of pharmacists is highest (i.e. the competition for jobs is high). Toronto also has a pharmacy school, which puts further pressure on salaries.
Pharmacist Salaries (Ontario):
Annual CAD$
| City | Salary |
|---|---|
| Toronto | $93,136 |
| Ottawa | $105,562 |
| Hamilton | $99.561 |
| London | $103,330 |
| Kitchener/Waterloo | $103,668 |
Source: Job Bank
There’s been a number of factors impacting the supply of pharmacy professionals: more pharmacy colleges coming online, immigration of international pharmacy grads (IPGs), the rise of pharmacy technicians. So let’s take a look at this issue in depth.
Number of Pharmacists in Ontario
Obviously the number of pharmacists in Ontario has a big impact on wages, so we monitor this number very closely.
There are 15,113 pharmacists in Ontario as of December 31, 2015. Fifty-eight percent of Ontario pharmacists are women, a consistent percentage since 2012. The average age of a pharmacist fell to 44 years (from 45 years in 2014)
Source: OCP 2015 Annual Report
The OCP has information on where pharmacists competed their education. In 2015, 44% of pharmacists were educated in Ontario, 19% were educated outside Ontario, and 37% were educated internationally.
According the CIHI, 40% of Ontario pharmacists in 2012 were international pharmacy graduates (IPG). Of that number, 23% graduated in Egypt.
Source: OCP 2015 Annual Report
New Pharmacists Registered in Ontario:
Despite the big growth in the number of pharmacists in Ontario, new professionals were added in 2015. According to the OCP, 999 new pharmacists were registered in Ontario in 2015. That represents a 15% increase from 2014.
Source: OCP 2015 Annual Report
Of those new pharmacists, a larger portion is being educated in Ontario. The opening of the University of Waterloo Pharmacy School during this time explains this trend.
Source: OCP 2015 Annual Report
Growth in the Number of Ontario Pharmacists:
Over the last five years, the number of pharmacists in Ontario has growth by 25%. The increase in the number of pharmacists during this time was over 3 times greater than the population growth.
To put the growth of pharmacists into perspective, the CIHI publishes the number of pharmacists per 100,000 population. The number of pharmacists per person increased from 79 per 100,000 population in 2009 to 83 per 100,000 population in 2012.
Using the latest population and pharmacist estimates, the number of pharmacists per person in Ontario is 110 per 100,000 population in 2015.
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