Pharmacy Technician Certificate is a certificate in Pharmacy programme offered by Okanagan College in Kelowna, Canada. The programme runs for 41 weeks, delivered on campus. Teaching is in English. Tuition is CAD 15,400 per total for local students.
This certificate prepares graduates for technician roles in community and hospital pharmacies, covering both the technical and clerical sides of the pharmacy profession. Topics addressed include sterile product handling, compounding, pharmaceutical products, prescription preparation and pharmacy equipment, taught through a mix of classroom theory, demonstrations and hands-on practice. Students complete a practicum in a community pharmacy and separately in a hospital pharmacy setting.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: Domestic applicants only, per the College's program page.
Academic base: B.C. secondary-school graduation or the equivalent (Adult Graduation Diploma). Applicants must currently be in secondary school, hold a high-school equivalency certificate, or have graduated.
English 12 at 60 per cent, or one of the College's published alternatives.
Biology 12, Anatomy and Physiology 12, or the provincial-level ABE biology course at 60 per cent - the course must include human anatomy and physiology.
Chemistry 12 or the provincial-level ABE chemistry course at 60 per cent.
Mathematics: 60 per cent in Pre-Calculus 12, Principles of Mathematics 12, ABE MATH 012 or Okanagan College MATH 120, or 70 per cent on the College's Mathematics 12 proficiency exam. Anyone who last met the maths requirement more than seven years ago must sit that proficiency exam and score at least 70 per cent.
English for applicants whose first language is not English: the program applies the National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities standard rather than the College's general table. IELTS Academic must show 7.0 in reading, 7.0 in listening, 7.0 in speaking and 6.5 in writing, and all four sub-tests must come from a single sitting - each sub-test must clear its own cut score, and the overall band is not considered. The Occupational English Test is also accepted, at B in reading, listening and speaking and C+ in writing. Graduating from a Canadian high school with three consecutive first-language English courses, or holding a Canadian undergraduate degree taught in English, also satisfies the requirement.
Also required: criminal record check clearance through the B.C. Criminal Records Review Program, started only when Admissions instructs you.
Collected by the instructor on the first day of classes: proof of current immunisation as required by clinical partners and recommended by the BC Centre for Disease Control (diphtheria and tetanus, polio, hepatitis B, MMR, varicella, influenza), and evidence of a negative tuberculin test taken no more than six months before applying, or of appropriate follow-up after a positive result.
Application Details
Start Date:Intakes published by Okanagan College for this program: September 2026 (Kelowna). Campus availability differs by intake and the program page shows which are still open.
Application Deadline:Domestic applicants: there is no fixed closing date. Okanagan College opens applications on October's first business day each year, and programs that run several intakes across the year - Entry-Level Trades Foundation and health programs other than Nursing and Dental among them - keep taking applications for those intakes over the following ten months. Most programs accept applications right up to the start date and close only when the seats are gone, so apply early and check each intake's status on the program page. Apply through EducationPlannerBC; the fee is $30 CAD. This program is offered to domestic applicants only.
