New training for pharmacists to safely substitute medications

- Media Release, Gov’t SK

August 19, 2025

key points from this story:

• Pharmacists gain new substitution training.
• Therapeutic substitution helps during drug shortages.
• Training is set by the pharmacy college.
• Alternative drugs allowed in more scenarios.
• Policy aligns with nine other provinces.
• Supports rural and small-town health services.

The Government of Saskatchewan is expanding the ability of pharmacists to offer more care to patients with new training that will allow them to substitute medications under specific conditions. With this new training, pharmacists will be able to prescribe alternative medications under conditions approved by the Saskatchewan College of Pharmacy Professionals (SCPP) such as during a supply disruption or shortage of a prescribed drug. For example, if a patient's prescription heartburn medication is unavailable, a pharmacist would be able to substitute it with a different appropriate prescription heartburn medication. "Pharmacists are trusted, highly skilled health professionals, who, in many communities, are the primary access point for health-care services," Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill said.

"Giving pharmacists the ability to prescribe alternative medications means Saskatchewan patients can benefit from more timely and accessible health care." Pharmacists will be required to take training and meet competency requirements as established by the Saskatchewan College of Pharmacy Professionals and follow mandatory guidelines. "Therapeutic substitution under Advanced Prescribing A enables pharmacists to respond more effectively to medication availability and patient needs," SCPP President Scott Livingstone said. "By supporting access to equivalent therapies when a prescribed product is unavailable, this change helps minimize treatment delays and disruptions in care."

Pharmacists will have the ability to prescribe an alternative drug under other circumstances, including when a drug is officially withdrawn from the market; the patient's safety is at risk and the prescriber cannot be reached in a reasonable timeframe; or the patient is unable to take the initial drug and would benefit from a different drug with an alternative dosage or way of administering it, such as by mouth instead of by injection. "We want to thank the Government of Saskatchewan for their ongoing commitment to enhancing health services including those in rural and small-town Saskatchewan, and for their leadership in health care," Pharmacy Association of Saskatchewan CEO Michael Fougere said.

"Pharmacists are the health system's medication experts. By expanding pharmacists' scope and enabling them to replace a patient's prescribed medication, the government is increasing health system capacity for Saskatchewan residents." To date, nine other provinces and territories have implemented similar policies concerning therapeutic substitution. The scope expansion is guided by the Government of Saskatchewan's Health Human Resources Action Plan to recruit, train, incentivize and retain more health care workers in Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan pharmacists were first granted the authority to prescribe for four minor ailments in 2012.

Since then, the list has grown to more than 30 conditions. The full list of conditions is available at the Saskatchewan College of Pharmacy Professionals website. There are almost 1,300 practising community pharmacists in more than 430 licensed community pharmacies in Saskatchewan.