Professional Regulation and Foreign Qualification Recognition for Pharmacists
Foreign qualification recognition (FQR) poses one of the most serious challenges to internationally trained foreign workers in accessing labour markets, especially in regulated professions in the host country. This paper focuses on the nature of FQR by examining the professional regulations for pharmacists in four immigrant-receiving countries – Canada (Ontario and Quebec), Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Drawing from the institutionalist perspective, it argues that social and cultural prejudices manifest themselves with the way professional regulations are used as part of the FQR processes for internationally trained pharmacists (ITPs) from the Global South. Obtaining an equivalency for foreign qualifications is often treated as the entry step of a long licensure process.