Change of Direct Owner

Change of Direct Owner

A change of direct owner usually occurs in anticipation of a sale of a licensed pharmacy from another legal entity. It may also occur with a merger, acquisition or amalgamation.

The direct owner holds the pharmacy licence and the name of the direct owner is a legislative requirement for a pharmacy licence. Pursuant to section 6(1)(c) of the Pharmacy Operations and Drug Scheduling Act, a pharmacy licence is cancelled when the direct owner of the pharmacy changes. A change of direct owner essentially results in a new pharmacy licence application.

1. Apply for a Change of Direct Owner
   The authorized representative of the new direct owner must submit the following no later than 30 days before the effective date of change:
   • PODSA Form 8A: Application for Change of Direct Owner and applicable fees;
   • A copy of the pharmacy’s business licence issued to the new direct owner*;
   • Ownership information of the new direct owner*;
   • Signed copy of the attestation using PODSA Form 5 – Manager/Direct Owner/Indirect Owner – Proof of Eligibility from the manager of the pharmacy at the time when the change occurs; and
   • Signed copy of the attestation using PODSA Form 5 – Manager/Direct Owner/Indirect Owner – Proof of Eligibility from each applicable direct/indirect owner of the new direct owner.

    

   If the new direct owner is a corporation, use this checklist to help you identify all required documents.

   *if available at the time when the change application is submitted. Otherwise, it must be submitted before the effective date of change. Complete the “Deferred Submission of a Required Document(s) for Change Application” declaration form before the effective date and contact the Licensure Department if you have issues obtaining your business licence, or ownership information due to an amalgamation of corporations. 

   Allow up to 14 days for processing.

2. Submit Criminal Record History (CRH) to complete Proof of Eligibility

   Upon validation of the ownership information submitted by the new direct owner, each applicable direct/indirect owner and the manager will receive instructions to complete their Criminal Record History if one has not be done with the College in the previous 5 years.

   The CRH must be submitted by all applicable individuals no later than 7 days before the effective date of change.

   It may take up to 7 days to process a Criminal Record History result.

The authorized representative named in the application will receive a confirmation letter via email upon completion of the change application.

A new pharmacy licence will be issued to the new direct owner upon completion of the Change of Direct Owner application. The new pharmacy licence can be found on the pharmacy portal on eServices on the next business day after the effective date. Should any requirements be missing on this date, the effective date stated on the pharmacy licence will then reflect the date of the College’s approval.

Note that this change process and its requirements are specific to change of direct owner only. Should other changes accompany this change (e.g. change in manager*/operating name/layout), a separate application for that particular change will also be required. See the​ Multiple Changes section for more information.

*If you are changing the manager with the same effective date as the change of direct owner, please also submit: PODSA Form 8C: Application for Change of Manager.

Should this change apply to other pharmacies at the same time, please submit a separate PODSA Form 8A: Application for Change of Direct Owner for each pharmacy impacted by the same change, or use Form 9 - Pharmacy Licensure – Multiple Pharmacies for the additional pharmacies. See the “Same Change Applies to Multiple Pharmacies” section for more information.

A pharmacy diagram is not required for a change of direct owner, therefore, it is the responsibility of the direct owner to confirm the layout of the pharmacy has not changed since the pharmacy licence was first issued or since a change in layout application was made.

Refer to the Pharmacy Licensure Guide for more information.