2025 Annual General Meeting
July 25, 2025, 3:00pm
St. John’s
The College of Pharmacy of Newfoundland and Labrador is pleased to offer a virtual attendance option for this year’s Annual General Meeting (AGM). The AGM is open to all registered pharmacy professionals, so if you would like to join us, RSVP by registering online using the following link: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/73a0f13d-153b-4aae-ae0c-170ce0983f93@b4151282-3e07-4782-a45e-2c31b50d2f6f
aGENDA
A 20-30-minute question-and-answer period will be held immediately following the AGM, with an end time of 4:00 pm. This time is allotted for the board to engage with registered pharmacy professionals, key partners, and members of the public and address any questions they might have.
The 2025 Annual Report is available to view online at: https://cpnl.ca/about/annual-reports/
RESULTS OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS NOMINATIONS – ZONE 2 AND ZONE 3
The 2025 Call for Nominations for Zone 2 and Zone 3 board members was open from April 25, 2025, to May 26, 2025. One nomination was received for each zone by the deadline. As both nominations have been determined to be eligible candidates, both are elected to the positions by acclamation. Each term is three years and will begin at the CPNL Annual General Meeting on July 25, 2025.
Congratulations to Jason Ryan, who has been re-elected to Zone 2, and Melissa Key, who will join the Board for the first time as the Zone 3 representative.
JASON RYAN, ZONE 2 PHARMACIST
Jason Ryan graduated from the Memorial University School of Pharmacy in 1998 and began working at Bonavista PharmaChoice, where he continues to practice today.
Jason has served on the CPNL Board of Directors as the Zone 2 representative since 2019 and most recently took on the role as Chair in 2024. He has worked on various CPNL committees and taskforces before and during his tenure with the Board. Previously, he served on the Professional Development Review committee and on a task force for the development of the Standards for the Provision of Pharmacy Services to Personal Care Homes. Currently, he is the Chair of the Complaints Authorization Committee and Executive Committee, and a member of the Finance and Audit Committee.
Throughout his years of practice, Jason has seen many changes in the profession of pharmacy. Practicing as a pharmacist in a rural setting with frequent physician turnover, Jason can attest to the importance of a pharmacist being a “constant” within the community, always dependable and easily accessible. As he continues his role on the CPNL Board, he is committed to ensuring patients have access to quality and safe healthcare and further developing the role of pharmacy professionals in healthcare in Newfoundland and Labrador.
mELISSA kEY, ZONE 3 PHARMACIST
As a dedicated pharmacist committed to improving access to care and supporting her profession, Melissa Key has spent the past several years building meaningful experiences across central Newfoundland and Labrador. Since graduating in 2022, she has worked as both a staff pharmacist and pharmacy manager in Zone 3. She currently serves as the Pharmacist-in-Charge at Shoppers Drug Mart in Badgers Quay, a role that has provided her with a strong understanding of the College of Pharmacy of Newfoundland and Labrador’s standards, regulatory requirements, and professional expectations.
In addition to her primary roles, she has completed numerous relief shifts across various locations in central NL. This experience has given her a broad perspective on the unique challenges faced by pharmacy professionals and patients in the region, particularly in areas with limited access to healthcare providers.
While much of her focus since becoming registered has been on hands-on patient care, she is eager to now contribute more actively to the profession at a broader level. During pharmacy school, she held several leadership positions, including serving on the Canadian Association of Pharmacy Students and Interns (CAPSI) National Council and as the Canadian representative to the International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation. These experiences deepened her passion for advocacy, collaboration, and the advancement of pharmacy practice both locally and globally.
Since becoming registered, she has remained engaged through professional development and public education initiatives — leading pharmacy information sessions in her community, developing patient-focused resources, and delivering presentations on various health topics. She will bring strong communication, time management, and ethical leadership skills to this role and is committed to supporting CPNL in protecting the public through high-quality, patient-centered pharmacy regulation.
THE IMPACTS OF PHARMACY PROFESSIONALS’ WELLNESS AND WORKING CONDITIONS ON QUALITY AND SAFETY OF PATIENT CARE REPORT
To better understand the prevalence and impact of working conditions that may be negatively impacting pharmacy professionals’ ability to provide safe and effective care to their patients, CPNL conducted the Work Environment and Business Practices in NL Pharmacies survey in the spring of 2024.
The responses to the survey have been analyzed alongside past consultations and a literature review related to pharmacy professionals’ work environments, well-being, and pharmacy business practices. The findings have been published in CPNL’s The Impact of Pharmacy Professionals’ Wellness and Working Conditions on Quality and Safety of Patient Care report. We invite you to review this report, available on the CPNL website: https://cpnl.ca/the-impact-of-pharmacy-professionals-wellness-and-working-conditions-on-quality-and-safety-of-patient-care/
PICS – KEEP YOUR PHARMACY INFORMATION UP TO DATE
CPNL would like to remind pharmacists-in-charge to ensure that all information related to your pharmacy is kept up to date in the CPNL Pharmacy Portal. This includes staff listings, pharmacy services, hours of operation, and contact information.
If you have not done so recently, please log into the CPNL Pharmacy Portal and review this information and update as needed.
HEALTH CANADA – RISE OF UNAUTHORIZED SEMAGLUTIDE PRODUCTS
Health Canada has issued a position on the unauthorized manufacturing of products sold as compounded glucagon like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists.
The popularity of semaglutide-containing drug products and other GLP-1 receptor
agonists has given rise to a global increase in the sale and promotion of unauthorized
and counterfeit semaglutide products. Additionally, some compounding pharmacies
continue to prepare and sell injectable GLP-1 products in the absence of a shortage,
which is not permitted.
Health Canada is taking compliance and enforcement action when practitioners and pharmacists are engaged in activities that it considers to be manufacturing, based on the factors outlined in Health Canada’s Policy on Manufacturing and Compounding Drug Products in Canada.
Health Canada has determined that the use of a synthetic form of semaglutide poses a significant risk to health. To date, no product containing a synthetic form of semaglutide has been approved by Health Canada, meaning that the safety, quality and efficacy of products containing this active ingredient have not been assessed. Relative to the approved, biologic version, products with synthetic active ingredients may also contain harmful impurities, have different safety profiles and structure, and/or reduced efficacy. There are also concerns related to how the synthetic active ingredients may react in the body.
For more details, please refer to Health Canada’s position on the unauthorized manufacturing of products sold as compounded glucagon like peptide (GLP-1) receptor agonists issued on June 2, 2025.
ATLANTIC IMMIGRANT CAREER LOAN FUND
The Atlantic Immigrant Career Loan Fund (AICLF) is a micro-loan fund for internationally trained immigrants in Atlantic Canada. Providing micro-loans to newcomers to allow them to overcome financial barriers to upgrade their skills and obtain their license or certification so they can:
Potential candidates can visit the AICLF website (www.aiclf.ca) to learn more and take the eligibility test.
For more information, contact info@aiclf.ca.
SURVEY OF HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS ON THE ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF TINNITUS
The Tinnitus Ad Hoc Committee at Speech Language & Audiology Canada (SAC) is inviting healthcare professionals to participate in a 5-15 minute survey. One of the aims of this survey is to better understand the level of knowledge for healthcare providers about tinnitus to better understand and foster interprofessional collaboration to improve tinnitus patient management.
Take the Survey (https://redcap.link/3dsqr8ja)
SAC is a national organization that passionately supports and represents speech-language pathologists, audiologists, and communication health assistants in an inclusive manner. The Ad Hoc Committee on Tinnitus is developing a document on the role of audiologists in providing services related to tinnitus.
Regular Reminders
Scheduling Appointments with Staff
CPNL staff are here to assist and support you. If you wish to meet with a staff member in person, please call to schedule an appointment before visiting our office. Having details regarding your inquiry will help us appropriately prioritize and prepare to answer your question if we need to collect additional information before calling you back or meeting with you. If you are unable to reach the staff person by phone, please leave a detailed message. Voicemails are regularly checked, and staff members get email alerts when a message is left on their phone line.
Keeping Contact Information Up to Date
Registered pharmacy professionals are responsible for ensuring that the contact information on their registrant profile, including email address and practice site, is accurate at all times. CPNL primarily uses email communication to send newsletters, renewal reminders, practice site assessment information, professional development audit information, calls for interest for committees, and other alerts. If the email address on file is incorrect, important information may be missed and/or disclosed to the wrong person. If your contact information changes, please update your information on file by logging into the Registrant Portal.