As of June 1, 2026, all CIRCL requirements are in effect for all pharmacies in BC.
CIRCL, which stands for Continuous Improvement, Reporting, Collaborating, and Learning, is designed to enhance medication safety through structured reporting, analysis, and learning from medication incidents in pharmacies across British Columbia.
Medication incidents are a leading cause of injury and avoidable harm in healthcare systems worldwide. In recent years, some of the most common complaints received by CPBC have been related to medication dispensing errors by pharmacy professionals.
Under CIRCL, pharmacies collect and report data on medication incidents and near misses. This data is submitted in de-identified form to national databases, where it is combined with data from pharmacies across the country to identify trends, support shared learning, and inform medication safety recommendations.
What Pharmacy Teams Need to Know
- All CIRCL requirements apply to both community and hospital pharmacies with the same timelines and standards.
- All pharmacies must have a compliant reporting platform in place that supports the 8 mandatory data fields and submits de-identified data to the appropriate national database. These databases are the NIDR for community pharmacies and the NSIR for hospital pharmacies.
- All pharmacy professionals must understand what to report, how to report it, and their role in incident response and disclosure.
- Pharmacy managers are responsible for establishing written policies and procedures and ensuring all pharmacy professionals are trained on CIRCL requirements.
- Initial team meetings and safety self-assessments must be completed before June 1, 2027.
Transition Period Now Complete
June 1, 2026, marks the end of a year-long transition period that gave pharmacies and pharmacy professionals across BC time to come into compliance with CIRCL requirements. With the transition period now complete, pharmacy teams across the province are better able to prevent harm caused by medication incidents through the proactive identification of risks, analysis of incidents, and implementation of preventative measures.
CIRCL is supported by amendments to the Pharmacy Operations and Drug Scheduling Act (PODSA) Bylaws and the former Health Professions Act Bylaws, which were approved by the CPBC Board on April 25, 2025. Following the repeal of the Health Professions Act and its replacement by the Health Professions and Occupations Act (HPOA) on April 1, 2026, new CPBC bylaws were established under the HPOA to support CIRCL and its requirements.
CIRCL is based on the Model Standards of Practice for Continuous Quality Improvement and Medication Incident Reporting developed by the National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities (NAPRA), ensuring a consistent approach across Canada while allowing for provincial adaptations. British Columbia joins eight other provinces that have already established mandatory medication incident reporting programs, all aligned with NAPRA standards that form the foundation of CIRCL.
Resources and Support
To help pharmacy teams as they continue to implement CIRCL requirements within their practices, CPBC has developed a Quick-Start Checklist. The checklist is intended to be an easy-to-use reference that you can view online or print and keep on hand as you operationalize these new requirements.
For more information about pharmacy requirements and available resources, visit: bcpharmacists.org/CIRCL