Pharmacies across Ontario are set to offer a wider range of publicly funded vaccinations—including tetanus, pertussis, diphtheria, pneumococcal, RSV and shingles—under a planned expansion that takes effect in July 2026. The government says the change will make it easier for families to get routine shots closer to home.
Ontario is expanding what pharmacists can do, allowing them to administer six additional publicly funded vaccines and assess and prescribe for nine more common ailments starting in July.
The province says the move will improve access to care and reduce pressure on doctors’ offices, walk-in clinics, and emergency departments.
“This historic expansion of their scope of practice will improve access to care and reduce pressure on the health-care system by empowering health professionals to provide care to the full extent of their training and making pharmacies a one-stop location for convenient, everyday care,” says a government release.
“Ontarians have experienced firsthand the convenience of pharmacist prescribing, and today’s announcement continues our progress to reduce wait times and let more of our province’s health-care professionals work to the full extent of their expertise,” said Sylvia Jones, Minister of Health.
Beginning July, pharmacists will be able to administer six additional publicly funded vaccines for eligible Ontarians, including
Tetanus
Pertussis
Diphtheria
Pneumococcal
RSV
Shingles vaccines
Under the current model, these publicly funded vaccines are only available to patients through a visit to a doctor’s office, walk-in clinic, or other clinical settings. Under the new expanded scope of practice, families will now be able to receive vaccines more easily at thousands of additional locations across the province, with pharmacy technicians and qualified staff able to administer all eligible vaccines.
The province is also allowing pharmacists to assess and prescribe for nine additional common ailments, with plans to add up to five more in early 2027, bringing the total expanded number up to 33. Starting July, pharmacists and qualified health-care practitioners will be able to treat the following ailments:
Calluses and corns
Dandruff
Dry eye
Head lice
Jock itch
Mild headache
Nasal congestion
Ringworm
Warts
In addition to these changes, the government has now officially directed Ontario’s regulatory colleges for optometrists, physiotherapists, chiropractors, dental hygienists, denturists, audiologists, and speech-language pathologists to begin developing the regulatory framework that would further expand the scopes of practice in their fields.
“These future expansions will unlock additional capacity across the system by enabling professionals to deliver treatments and perform more procedures, helping people get faster access to care. Once implemented, these changes will improve access for those in rural, northern, Indigenous, and underserved communities, while reducing wait times and easing pressure on primary care and emergency departments, says the release.
Pharmacist assessment of common ailments began in January 2023, with an initial 13 ailments, and was expanded in October 2023 to include six additional ailments.
Ontario is not proceeding with scope expansions related to psychologists at this time, given the ongoing governance review involving the College of Psychologists and Behaviour Analysts of Ontario