D_pharm Posted March 30, 2016 Report Share Posted March 30, 2016 Hi, I would like to have your opinion on the job market for Pharmacist in Canada (no particular province, I'm open to any location). I'm hesistating between pharmacy and dentistry at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnGrisham Posted March 30, 2016 Report Share Posted March 30, 2016 Hi, I would like to have your opinion on the job market for Pharmacist in Canada (no particular province, I'm open to any location). I'm hesistating between pharmacy and dentistry at the moment. Pretty good, but really varies by province and city. Big cities, much like pharmacy are tougher to find full-time work right away, but if you give it some time and do locums or part-time, you'll get there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D_pharm Posted March 30, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2016 And do you have an idea of the salary? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al22 Posted March 31, 2016 Report Share Posted March 31, 2016 Can't help on the salary issue, but I'm sure there's plenty of data on the internet about it. I think one big difference between those two profession is how close of another human being you are physically in one day. When you're a dentist the is someone in your personal space ALL THE TIME, and this person is not asleep as they would if you were a surgeon. Someone told me this is what they find most difficult in this job. I would have never thought of this as an issue with the job so that is why I'm sharing it with you, maybe it can help you decide? Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wat3vr007 Posted April 5, 2016 Report Share Posted April 5, 2016 Is it better in Canada than the states? If you go look at SDN forums, you feel like you just want to lock yourself in a box forever regarding pharmacy prospect. But the credibility is low since everyone on there is just money hungry and driven. I really want to be a pharmacist for various reasons and applying next cycle. But many still are trying to tell me to reconsider and think about MD for better job prospect and pay, and to not "quit" my med dreams (?) typical pre-med community. What if I simply do not want to be an MD? Are the only valid career in the country today either MD or Dent? So unfortunately all this negative talk sucked me into worried about job opportunity, pay, and happiness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzz_etrigan Posted April 5, 2016 Report Share Posted April 5, 2016 wat3vr007 PM me and ill be happy to answer some questions for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConfusedSoul1 Posted April 8, 2016 Report Share Posted April 8, 2016 Hey guys. I am just finishing up my second year of pharmacy at the UofA and I have had the opportunity to network with a lot of employers and pharmacists throughout my last two years. There are some statistics that were provided for us by the faculty just a few days ago at a "town hall meeting." Every year the faculty conducts surveys from all the students and recent graduates. First, 87% of class of 2015 had a job before they even took their board exams (signed contracts at the end of 4th year). 75% of students had a full-time job lined up before taking their board exams. Approximately 55% of those jobs were in Urban and 45% were in rural areas (keep in mind that often includes cities that are just outside Edmonton and Calgary). Now, my personal experience from my job and networking throughout the years. Average starting job around Edmonton is about $45/hr. Majority of big chain pharmacists (including those working at my chain) are making between $45-$55/hr (90-110k per year). If you choose to work at the hospital the salary is higher. You start at $52 regardless of experience and max out at $60 per hour (about 103-120k per year). If you work in the community you start with 2 weeks of vacation usually and move up to 4-5 weeks depending on the chain. If you work at the hospital you start with 3 weeks and move up to 4 weeks in just one year. In terms of outlook of jobs, do not listen to anyone saying it is bad at all. As far as I have communicated with class of 2015, everyone in their class got a job by the end of summer and without an issue as well. You might have to start as relief pharmacist initially with SOME chains, so you would have to move around the city between stores and sometimes just outside the city. Most reliefs, however still get full time hours completely. I can't comment too much about other provinces, because all the pharmacists and employers that we communicate with are from Alberta, however what I can say is that in Ontario pharmacists generally make a little bit less and same goes for BC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D_pharm Posted April 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2016 Thanks, That was really helpfull! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liburni Posted April 8, 2016 Report Share Posted April 8, 2016 Hi Confusedsoul I can shed some light on the aspect of job prospects in South Western Ontario. I work as a pharmacy assistant (for 8 years now). I have definitely noticed a drop in full time positions. A lot of my colleagues work in 2,3 different pharmacies to accumulate 40 hours per week. Some of them actually prefer this because its a change of scenery and exposes them to a lot of places before they find a place they would like to settle down. I remember in 2008, Pharmacist were in high demand and that is when a lot of international pharmacists were brought in. At that time if you were a relief pharmacist, you could ask for however much per hour. I know pharmacists that were charging close to $100/hour at that time. This is often because various pharmacy chains have rules where if there is no pharmacist on site they are forced to close the whole store (the grocery side of the business as well). Those days are gone unfortunately. On the bright side, people I have spoken to are saying that this is just a cycle and that with time demand will go up again. We have had pharmacist that have come all the way from GTA (Commute) to London to work because the hourly salary in the Greater Toronto Area is pretty bad. If you are willing to relocate to smaller cities, you will have no problem finding a job that pays well. I applied this year to both UofT and UW and UofA. I got an interview to UofT but not to UW unfortunately. I still have to hear from UofA. Besides the fact that I enjoy working with people, the other very attractive aspect of being a pharmacist is that after you are done your shift you can go home and relax (unlike doctors). P.S. for community pharmacy chains, I believe Costco compensates pharmacists the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abi Radison Posted April 15, 2016 Report Share Posted April 15, 2016 Yes I also heard that Costco compensates best. Does anyone has ideas about hospital pharmacy? It seems job positions are very few and the pay is less than in community pharmacy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConfusedSoul1 Posted April 15, 2016 Report Share Posted April 15, 2016 Yes I also heard that Costco compensates best. Does anyone has ideas about hospital pharmacy? It seems job positions are very few and the pay is less than in community pharmacy. The job positions are definitely not as available due to the fact that you need a 1 year residency most of the time. The pay, however, is most definitely not lower than community, in Alberta at least. In Alberta hospital pharmacists can expect to easily get 10-20k more than community and better vacation packages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrNotSoSmart Posted June 22, 2016 Report Share Posted June 22, 2016 What are the job prospects with a Pharmacy degree? (more than community and hospital) How is the future of Pharmacy? Is the market becoming too saturated and are there budget cuts? Is there room for growth as a pharmacist? Just looking for some clarity if I do get in and go for pharmacy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liburni Posted June 23, 2016 Report Share Posted June 23, 2016 The main problem right now is the international pharmacist program that is being funded by shoppers drug mart. Even though the profession is saturated here in Ontario, they continue to allow international pharmacists to get licenced here. These pharmacists coming from abroad will work for anything because anything is better than what they were making in their respective countries. This benefits these big chain pharmacies such as sdm because instead of paying pharmacists what they deserve, they channel that money to their CEO's and what not. OPA who is suppose to protect the profession does nothing. This is where things stand right now, in Ontario at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
member_225 Posted June 25, 2016 Report Share Posted June 25, 2016 Dentists make more than pharmacists I'm pretty sure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lcs.tmng Posted July 23, 2016 Report Share Posted July 23, 2016 Dentists make more than pharmacists I'm pretty sure I believe so to but who has the most ridiculous overhead? Feels like that would be dentists no? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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