The Alberta College of Pharmacy (ACP) is seeking feedback on proposed amendments to the Standards of Practice for Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians (SPPPT) and the Standards for the Operation of Licensed Pharmacies (SOLP). These amendments are required to align the standards with recent provincial and federal legislative changes, including the Regulated Professions Neutrality Act (Bill 13), the Health Statutes Amendment Act (Bill 29), and Health Canada’s Controlled Substances Regulations.
In addition, ACP has incorporated some select administrative updates to improve the clarity and application of the standards based on implementation experience since their launch in February 2025.
The RPNA requires that regulators ensure policy neutrality, and prohibits promotion or enforcement of principles that assign value, moral superiority, bias or oppression, privilege, disadvantage, responsibility for actions, or adverse or preferential treatment based on personal characteristics. These personal characteristics include race, colour, ancestry, national or ethnic origin, sex, gender identity, religion, political or conscientious belief, and sexual orientation.
Regulators may not promote or affirm these principles, make decisions based on them, or maintain or create policies reflecting them. To achieve these requirements, ACP has made changes to Domain 1 of each set of standards, as well as related revisions throughout, to align the language used with terminology more commonly seen in other legislation. This ensures important concepts related to person-centred care are retained within the standards.
Changes introduced in the HSAA will enable pharmacists in licensed community pharmacies to sell Schedule 1 drugs directly to authorized prescribers for use in their practices. This includes responding to written orders from practitioners, such as physicians and nurse practitioners, and selling them a limited supply of medications for use in clinical settings.
These changes support timely patient care by allowing prescribers to maintain a small, securely stored inventory of medications for immediate administration in urgent situations. To achieve these requirements, ACP has made changes to Domain 4 of the SOLP and Domain 8 of the SPPPT.
The new CSR will replace the current regulations for controlled substances on October 1, 2026. Health Canada’s intent is to modernize federal rules for controlled substances by consolidating them into a single framework. The objective is clarity, consistency, and continuity, not the limitation of existing activities.
Administrative changes do not introduce any new policies, instead focusing on improving the clarity of existing standards.
The following two documents detail the proposed amendments and to the SPPPT and SOLP
Due to the number of changes across both documents, ACP will be collecting feedback on each set of standards in a separate form. Also note that this consultation only encompasses the proposed changes to the standards, and feedback on unchanged sections will not be considered at this time.
Please provide your comments by completing the online feedback forms and submitting them by 4:00 p.m. MT on Thursday, August 13, 2026.
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