Manitoba announces it will allow pharmacists to prescribe birth control
Posted August 7, 2026 4:52 pm.
Last Updated August 7, 2026 5:12 pm.
Manitoba’s government says it will let pharmacists in the province prescribe birth control.
Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara says the expanded scope of what pharmacists can do will make access easier.
“Them being able to answer those questions with expertise, and then not have to send you away to your doctor, they can actually not only have the conversation with you, give you the information, but then also give you the prescription in that same conversation, means a lot to a lot of people,” said Minister Asagwara.
The expansion on where Manitobans can get contraception comes after the province made birth control access free.
The government says pharmacists need to complete approved training before making assessments and prescribing birth control.
The training is being incorporated into the curriculum for pharmacists studying in the province.
The government says pharmacists will be able to prescribe a range of contraceptives as well as administer them through muscle injections.
“This means that people will be able to access contraception more quickly, more conveniently, and closer to home,” Asagwara told a news conference Friday.
Jennifer Hlynsky, the senior director of pharmacy operations at the Red River Co-operative, added, “Over 200 authorized pharmacists, so just like that we’ve added 200 providers for women’s health; there is the opportunity for training, so those pharmacists that are interested as word spreads and as we see the impact we’re able to have on patients, it will continue to grow.”
But for PC health critic Kathleen Cook, Friday’s announcement doesn’t go far enough.
“Manitoba is actually ranked last among Canadian provinces, when it comes to the authorized services that can be provided in a pharmacy. Things like heartburn, strep throat, tick bites, ring worm, common ailments that if you lived in Saskatchewan and Alberta you could go to a pharmacist and get treated, but here in Manitoba you cannot,” said Cook.
Minister Asagwara says more announcements are expected surrounding minor ailments coming this fall.
“We’ve been looking at that, that’s a really important step for us to take, there’s some aspects of that that, whether it’s regulatory or it’s actually full legislation changes, we’re working through that, so some of it we can do by way of regs, some of it requires more work on the legislative side, but minor ailments is certainly an area that we’re going to be expanding sooner than later,” said Asagwara.
-With files from the Canadian Press
