How to buy a pharmacy in New Brunswick: licences, ownership rules and what transfers

In New Brunswick the pharmacy rules sit in the Pharmacy Act, 2014, formally An Act Respecting the New Brunswick College of Pharmacists, and in the College’s own regulations. The College describes its role as protecting and promoting the health and well-being of New Brunswickers by regulating pharmacy practice, and its Registrar issues the certificates a pharmacy needs. For a buyer, the central document is the certificate of operation. This guide explains what the Act and the College’s regulations say about it, how a change of ownership or manager is handled, and what to request from the seller.

The certificate of operation

Section 67 of the Act says no person shall establish or operate a pharmacy except under the authority of a certificate of operation issued under that Part. The certificate is the authority under which the pharmacy operates, so do not assume the right to operate passes with the shelves and the customer files. Ask the seller for the current certificate and read exactly what it covers. Then ask the College how a purchase of the business, as opposed to a new application, is treated in practice. Keep the College’s answer in writing with the deal file.

The pharmacy manager

The College says the pharmacist named on the certificate of operation is referred to as the pharmacy manager. That makes the manager a legal anchor of the certificate, not only an employee. If you intend to keep the seller’s pharmacist, confirm that person agrees to be named under your ownership and is prepared to fill the role. If you bring in your own pharmacist, that person must be ready before the certificate is issued in their name.

Filing in advance

Under section 13.4 of the College’s Regulations, an applicant for a certificate of operation must file an application at least 30 days before the date it intends to begin operating a pharmacy, or at another time acceptable to the Registration Committee. The second branch gives the College some flexibility, but a buyer should not count on it. Ask the College early, before the offer is firm, what timeline it expects for an application connected with a purchase.

When ownership, manager or location changes

Section 14.3 of the Regulations says a change in ownership, manager or location requires verification that the minimum standards of pharmacy practice are being met. Section 14.5 deals with the manager alone: if the manager changes during the term of the certificate, the departing manager must advise the Registrar and destroy the certificate, and on payment of the fees prescribed by Council the Registrar must issue a new certificate in the new manager’s name. So an ownership change triggers a verification, and a manager change produces a new certificate. A sale that changes both brings both into play. Section 14.9 adds that, where possible, the manager must cause notice of any changes set out in that Part to be provided to the Registrar at least 30 days in advance of the change. Section 14.3, as quoted, does not say how that verification is carried out or who performs it, so ask the College what it will want to see from you, and when, before the closing date is fixed.

What the Act leaves to regulations

The Act provides for College regulations that set out the circumstances in which a change in the ownership or control of a pharmacy must be reported, and the circumstances in which the Registrar may cancel, revoke or suspend a certificate of operation. A buyer should therefore read the current Regulations, not only the Act, and ask the College whether anything in them turns on how the purchase is structured. Do not infer from this guide that a particular structure avoids reporting; the text to read is the Regulations as they stand at closing.

Federal rules that sit alongside

Health Canada says class exemptions under the federal Controlled Drugs and Substances Act could apply to people in a geographic area, such as a provincial class exemption, or to a profession, such as pharmacists. That is separate from New Brunswick’s certificate of operation. Ask your lawyer which federal permissions the pharmacy relies on and whether they attach to the business or to its pharmacists.

What to ask the seller for

• The current certificate of operation, showing the pharmacy manager named on it and the location it covers.
• Confirmation of whether the current manager will remain after closing and will accept being named again.
• The most recent inspection findings and any College correspondence on conditions, complaints or past changes.
• Any prior reports to the College about changes in ownership or control, and how the College responded.
• The seller’s written account of what the seller has already told the College about the planned sale.

Our guide to buying a pharmacy in Canada sets out the wider buying process, and current listings are on the pharmacies for sale page.