British Columbia Minister of Health Josie Osborne spoke with pharmacists at the 2026 BC Pharmacy Association Annual Conference in May. Below is her speech to pharmacists reproduced in print, with permission.
Over the last 18 months in my role as B.C.’s Health Minister, I have seen, over and over, how pharmacists are part of this team of caregivers for British Columbians that come to work every single day with that kindness, that open heart, and that commitment to serve people.
I am so grateful to be here on the territories of the Musqueam, the Squamish, and the Tsleil-Waututh, and I too want to acknowledge the deep sense of history and place and to thank Nations and all the ancestors for stewarding these lands.
We are so privileged as British Columbians to live here, to lead our lives here, and to raise our families here. I’m a very proud British Columbian. Thank you so much for inviting me to be here today.
Over the last few years, we have seen how expanding pharmacists’ scope of practice has really made a difference. Services like minor ailments, contraception prescribing, and prescription renewals are really helping patients get timely care — and they have reduced pressure on other parts of the system.
Certainly, as I travel around British Columbia and I talk to people, pharmacies and pharmacists come up all the time. People express their gratitude at being able to skip a line or not have to make an appointment with their family care provider, because they can go to their local pharmacy and get access to this kind of help.
I want to take a moment to sincerely recognize your profession, and you as pharmacists who have really stepped up — embracing new responsibilities and supporting patients with professionalism and with compassion. I know I don’t need to tell you that the uptake of these new services has been simply outstanding. The minor ailments and contraception services have been used widely by patients across the province, and more than 1.4 million services have been provided since the program’s inception in June 2023. That’s phenomenal.
It shows how trusted pharmacists are and how much value you bring to our health system. As we look forward, our focus is on building on this progress. As many of you know, we are actively exploring ways to optimize and expand the scope of practice for health care providers, including pharmacists, to improve and strengthen care capacity, and access across the entire system. It’s a key part of our health human resources strategy to ensure timely, accessible, and efficient care for people across B.C.
BCPhA CEO Geraldine Vance, Board Directors Andrew Low, Justin Dovale, Minister Josie Osborne, BCPhA Board Chair Kylee Power.
Alongside scope modernization, we have made changes as well to help improve the oversight of health professionals in B.C. through the Health Professions and Occupations Act, which came into force on April 1. The HPOA strengthens health profession regulation by increasing accountability, transparency, and cultural safety measures that affect the way health care services are delivered across B.C. It includes the establishment of the Health Professions and Occupations Regulatory Oversight Office, which oversees six health professional regulatory colleges in B.C. The Oversight Office protects the public from harm and discrimination by providing independent, trusted, and responsive oversight of the health professional regulatory colleges.
We are also taking action to improve and enhance medication access here in B.C. through the new National Pharmacare plan, which is funded in part by the federal government, and we’re grateful for that partnership. We’ve removed out-of-pocket costs for essential diabetes medications and menopausal hormone therapy, and that means patients can access these treatments, these medications, at a time when those cost barriers have been reduced and their access to care is streamlined. This has got to be one of the most-mentioned things when I talk to British Columbians. Access to menopause hormone therapy, access to diabetes medications, and access to free contraceptives are making a real difference in people’s lives — anywhere from a few hundred dollars to significantly more.
We have marked a somber anniversary in the past weeks, that being the 10th anniversary of the declaration of a public health emergency, the toxic drug crisis. And we must continue, as health professionals, as governments, as community care providers, as frontline workers, to continue to take action to reverse toxic drug poisoning and save lives. The province has invested $50 million into the Take Home Naloxone Program to expand access to nasal naloxone, alongside the intramuscular naloxone kits, with nasal naloxone being made available in community and pharmacy Take Home Naloxone sites. That has begun provincewide, starting in April 2026, and I want to say thank you to those community pharmacies who are partners in this program. By increasing access to a more easily administered form of naloxone, you are truly helping to save lives and keep people safe.
These changes, all taken together, really aim to enhance public trust and medication access, while supporting regulated professionals such as yourselves to deliver safe and effective care. But at the same time, we have to be candid about some of the realities that we face. Like many jurisdictions, British Columbia is working within fiscal constraints, and that means we have to make the most of what we already have to improve efficiency, patient outcomes, and provider satisfaction. Strengthening primary care and community-based services remains a key priority. Our goal here is to strengthen and redesign existing pharmacy services together with your feedback, your partnership, your input, so we can collectively deliver that maximum value. That’s including of course, prescription renewals, adaptations, immunizations, minor ailments and contraception services.
The Minister's address was attended by nearly 200 pharmacists in the audience at the Westin Bayshore Vancouver, along with hundreds more who tuned in via livestream.
We know that these services are already making a difference, and we want to ensure that they are further integrated and further optimized, and that’s why collaboration in this work is absolutely key, because I know that pharmacy services don’t exist in isolation. They need to connect with primary care networks, with health authorities, with other parts of the health system, and we are seeing, too, how pharmacists have become key players of team-based care, delivering primary care in community health centres and other community-led clinics around the province. This is the work we are doing to ensure continuity of care and better outcomes for patients. I want you to know that we remain committed to expanding our access, making care more convenient for British Columbians, and I know that pharmacy professionals play an enormous role in this. You have shown that you can play a bigger role, and we want to keep building on that progress.
Thank you again for everything you are doing to support British Columbians. It’s your commitment, your passion for your work, your expertise, and that dedication to patient-centred care that really is indispensable and at the heart of the work that we’re doing to build a stronger and more sustainable, accessible health care system for absolutely everybody.
I look forward to continuing to work with you as an Association, with you as individual pharmacists and pharmacies, to find those practical and very sustainable ways that we can continue to strengthen the pharmacy services that you provide, and support the goal that we all share, and that is better care for patients.
Josie Osborne
Minister of Health
Province of British Columbia