NOC 2021 · 33103 · TEER 3
Pharmacy technical assistants and pharmacy assistants
Unit group 33103 of the National Occupational Classification, 2021 Version 1.0.
What this group covers
Pharmacy technical assistants perform technical tasks related to preparing medications under a pharmacist's supervision. They also assist in filling prescriptions and managing patient files. Pharmacy assistants perform clerical functions and assists pharmacists and pharmacy technicians with drug dispensing tasks. Pharmacy technical assistants and pharmacy assistants are employed in retail and hospital pharmacies, long-term care facilities and by pharmaceutical manufacturers.
Example job titles
As Statistics Canada publishes them. Yours may be worded differently and still belong here.
- dispensary assistant
- drugstore dispensing assistant
- drugstore side room attendant
- pharmacy aide
- pharmacy assistant
- pharmacy helper
- pharmacy side room attendant
- pharmacy supply assistant
- pharmacy technical assistant
What it pays, and where it is hiring
Job Bank publishes a wage estimate and a three-year employment outlook for each occupation, region by region. Both are below as published — where an estimate is missing from the source it is missing here too, because the alternative is inventing one.
Across Canada
$20.00 an hour
Low $16.00, high $26.00
Where it pays most
- Winnipeg · Manitoba$24.65
- Mauricie · Quebec$23.62
- Thompson--Okanagan · British Columbia$23.21
- Outaouais · Quebec$23.14
- Banff--Jasper--Rocky Mountain House · Alberta$23.00
Economic regions only. A province’s figure is an average over the regions inside it, so including one would rank a province above its own best region and read as a finding.
By province and territory
| Where | Median hourly | Low to high | Outlook 2025–2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newfoundland and Labrador | $19.50 | $16.00 – $30.00 | Moderate |
| Prince Edward Island | $18.00 | $16.50 – $25.00 | Moderate |
| Nova Scotia | $18.00 | $16.50 – $25.00 | Good |
| New Brunswick | $19.90 | $15.65 – $26.00 | Moderate |
| Quebec | $21.00 | $16.10 – $28.00 | Limited |
| Ontario | $19.50 | $17.60 – $26.00 | Moderate |
| Manitoba | $22.50 | $17.00 – $27.62 | Moderate |
| Saskatchewan | $20.00 | $15.35 – $25.00 | Moderate |
| Alberta | $20.00 | $15.05 – $25.60 | Moderate |
| British Columbia | $20.00 | $17.85 – $26.95 | Moderate |
| Yukon Territory | Not published | Not published | Undetermined |
| Northwest Territories | Not published | Not published | Undetermined |
| Nunavut | Not published | Not published | Undetermined |
By economic region
The 70 economic regions where Job Bank publishes a wage or a rated outlook, of 72.
| Where | Province | Median hourly | Low to high | Outlook 2025–2027 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avalon Peninsula | Newfoundland and Labrador | $19.90 | $16.00 – $31.00 | Moderate |
| South Coast--Burin Peninsula | Newfoundland and Labrador | $19.50 | $16.00 – $30.00 | Moderate |
| West Coast--Northern Peninsula--Labrador | Newfoundland and Labrador | $19.58 | $17.89 – $19.64 | Moderate |
| Notre Dame--Central Bonavista Bay | Newfoundland and Labrador | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Cape Breton | Nova Scotia | Not published | Not published | Good |
| North Shore | Nova Scotia | $18.79 | $16.93 – $24.53 | Good |
| Annapolis Valley | Nova Scotia | $18.71 | $17.89 – $21.51 | Good |
| Southern | Nova Scotia | $19.08 | $18.19 – $22.47 | Good |
| Halifax | Nova Scotia | $19.57 | $16.95 – $23.40 | Good |
| Campbellton--Miramichi | New Brunswick | $20.53 | $17.87 – $25.62 | Moderate |
| Moncton--Richibucto | New Brunswick | $19.90 | $16.83 – $27.50 | Good |
| Saint John--St. Stephen | New Brunswick | $19.50 | $16.00 – $23.00 | Good |
| Fredericton--Oromocto | New Brunswick | $19.45 | $17.73 – $21.77 | Good |
| Edmundston--Woodstock | New Brunswick | $20.03 | $18.94 – $21.34 | Moderate |
| Gaspésie--Îles-de-la-Madeleine | Quebec | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Bas-Saint-Laurent | Quebec | $22.96 | $19.15 – $27.40 | Moderate |
| Capitale-Nationale | Quebec | $21.00 | $16.10 – $26.00 | Moderate |
| Chaudière-Appalaches | Quebec | $21.00 | $16.10 – $28.00 | Moderate |
| Estrie | Quebec | $22.90 | $20.25 – $26.40 | Moderate |
| Centre-du-Québec | Quebec | $22.84 | $21.11 – $26.47 | Moderate |
| Montérégie | Quebec | $21.00 | $16.10 – $28.00 | Limited |
| Montréal | Quebec | $21.00 | $16.10 – $28.00 | Limited |
| Laval | Quebec | $22.00 | $16.10 – $31.40 | Limited |
| Lanaudière | Quebec | $21.00 | $16.10 – $28.00 | Limited |
| Laurentides | Quebec | $22.68 | $20.42 – $26.67 | Limited |
| Outaouais | Quebec | $23.14 | $20.42 – $28.88 | Moderate |
| Abitibi-Témiscamingue | Quebec | $21.00 | $16.10 – $28.00 | Moderate |
| Mauricie | Quebec | $23.62 | $19.71 – $27.62 | Moderate |
| Saguenay--Lac-Saint-Jean | Quebec | $20.24 | $17.90 – $25.00 | Limited |
| Côte-Nord | Quebec | Not published | Not published | Limited |
| Nord-du-Québec | Quebec | Not published | Not published | Limited |
| Ottawa | Ontario | $19.50 | $17.60 – $26.00 | Moderate |
| Kingston--Pembroke | Ontario | $20.00 | $17.60 – $27.50 | Moderate |
| Muskoka--Kawarthas | Ontario | $19.50 | $17.60 – $26.00 | Moderate |
| Toronto | Ontario | $19.50 | $17.60 – $26.00 | Moderate |
| Kitchener--Waterloo--Barrie | Ontario | $21.63 | $17.60 – $26.00 | Moderate |
| Hamilton--Niagara Peninsula | Ontario | $20.50 | $17.60 – $25.00 | Moderate |
| London | Ontario | $20.75 | $17.60 – $24.00 | Moderate |
| Windsor--Sarnia | Ontario | $20.00 | $17.60 – $25.00 | Moderate |
| Stratford--Bruce Peninsula | Ontario | $19.50 | $17.60 – $26.00 | Moderate |
| Northeast | Ontario | $19.50 | $17.60 – $26.00 | Moderate |
| Northwest | Ontario | $20.15 | $17.60 – $24.00 | Moderate |
| Southeast | Manitoba | $20.55 | $19.43 – $24.55 | Good |
| South Central | Manitoba | $21.40 | $18.80 – $24.17 | Undetermined |
| Southwest | Manitoba | $20.00 | $16.00 – $27.00 | Moderate |
| Winnipeg | Manitoba | $24.65 | $17.00 – $27.89 | Moderate |
| Parklands | Manitoba | $21.72 | $18.99 – $24.48 | Moderate |
| North | Manitoba | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Regina--Moose Mountain | Saskatchewan | $21.35 | $16.58 – $25.72 | Moderate |
| Swift Current--Moose Jaw | Saskatchewan | $19.42 | $17.42 – $24.17 | Good |
| Saskatoon--Biggar | Saskatchewan | $19.00 | $15.35 – $22.00 | Moderate |
| Yorkton--Melville | Saskatchewan | $19.92 | $18.50 – $24.97 | Good |
| Prince Albert | Saskatchewan | $19.41 | $16.76 – $27.40 | Moderate |
| Northern | Saskatchewan | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Lethbridge--Medicine Hat | Alberta | $20.00 | $15.05 – $24.50 | Moderate |
| Camrose--Drumheller | Alberta | $22.48 | $19.66 – $26.65 | Moderate |
| Calgary | Alberta | $22.20 | $17.71 – $26.34 | Moderate |
| Banff--Jasper--Rocky Mountain House | Alberta | $23.00 | $17.00 – $27.00 | Moderate |
| Red Deer | Alberta | $22.38 | $19.35 – $26.31 | Moderate |
| Edmonton | Alberta | $20.53 | $17.72 – $25.88 | Moderate |
| Athabasca--Grande Prairie--Peace River | Alberta | $23.00 | $17.00 – $27.00 | Moderate |
| Wood Buffalo--Cold Lake | Alberta | $22.00 | $16.00 – $23.00 | Moderate |
| Vancouver Island and Coast | British Columbia | $22.53 | $19.53 – $26.68 | Moderate |
| Lower Mainland | British Columbia | $21.77 | $17.85 – $29.15 | Moderate |
| Thompson--Okanagan | British Columbia | $23.21 | $19.68 – $26.18 | Moderate |
| Kootenay | British Columbia | $22.71 | $19.78 – $26.03 | Good |
| Cariboo | British Columbia | $22.35 | $20.76 – $27.78 | Limited |
| North Coast | British Columbia | $22.77 | $21.01 – $27.27 | Good |
| Nechako | British Columbia | Not published | Not published | Good |
| Northeast | British Columbia | $22.61 | $21.36 – $27.12 | Undetermined |
Job Bank rates employment prospects for each occupation in each economic region from very good to very limited over 2025–2027, and says “undetermined” where it has not got enough to rate. It is an assessment of prospects, not a count of vacancies.
The estimates on this page come from Labour Force Survey (2023-2024) · Small Area Estimation (2024) · Employment Insurance Survey Data (2023-2024).
Job Bank publishes an estimate for 24,364 of the 44,376 occupation-and-place pairs in this release. The rest are suppressed rather than modelled, and appear here as not published.
Wage estimates from the 2025 Wages release, revised 19 November 2025; employment outlooks from 2025-2027 Employment Outlooks - NOC 2021, released 8 December 2025. Both are updated annually. Estimates for different regions come from different surveys, so comparing two regions is exactly as sound as Job Bank’s own regional comparison and no more.
Source: Statistics Canada — National Occupational Classification 2021 V1.0; Employment and Social Development Canada — Job Bank wages; Employment and Social Development Canada — Job Bank 3-year employment outlooks. Data current as of 13 August 2026. NOC 2021 Version 1.0. The classification is versioned rather than dated — IRCC moved to it in November 2022, and a new version would be a new classification rather than an update.