Stop depending on agencies.Run your relief in-house.
Build a pharmacy staff pool you can use again and again. Share shifts with your own team, trusted relief professionals and Relief Guru's 5,000+ professional network whenever you need extra capacity. Run it for a flat monthly platform fee without a per-shift platform charge.
Loved by pharmacies like yoursSee their stories & reviewsBreak the agency cycle. Take back control.
Stop paying agency fees every time you need cover.
Your pool. Your people.
Ready to call on again.
Cover sick days, vacations and staff shortages.
Add support for prescribing and vaccinations.
You're in the right place.
Everything below is built for your pharmacy.
Keep reading
Looking for shifts or jobs?
Pick up shifts and keep 100% of your pay.
Explore your sideA pharmacist calls in sick at 8:30.
Who you call next decides your whole day.
With your own pool in place, you can share the shift with your team, trusted relief contacts and the wider network from one place. See how that morning compares with calling around and waiting on an agency.
Every open shift starts with a phone and ends with an invoice.
- Every open shift means calling staff, then calling the agency, then waiting and hoping.
- Every agency shift adds a $65–150 fee plus an $80–240 wage premium on top of the wage.
- Every shift costs you about an hour of calls, texts and follow-ups that nobody ever invoices.
- You only know it's covered when the agency decides to call you back.
Post once. Reach your team and our network whenever you need.
- Your own staff across every location see the shift the moment you post it.
- You pay one flat monthly fee, with no per-shift charge and no wage markup.
- Applications, awards, chat and invoices all stay attached to the shift.
- Our 5,000+ pharmacist relief network is available whenever you choose to use it.
The 8:30 sick call doesn't end at 9 AM. It runs all day, then lands on your month-end invoice.
That before-and-after isn't a hypothetical. If the old-game side felt familiar, chances are you aren't running relief staffing; you're renting it, shift by shift, from someone whose availability and fees you don't control. So let's follow that same 8:30 sick call through one full day, from the first phone call to the invoice, and see where the hours and the money actually go.
“My pharmacist just called in sick.”
You start dialling. Three don't pick up, two are already booked somewhere else. By 9 AM you give up and call the agency. Now you're waiting on them.
“We'll see what we can do.”
Sixty pharmacists across twelve stores, and none of them can see a shift outside their own store. So the open shift goes to an agency, while your own people sit at home with a free day.
“Is it covered? I still don't know.”
The counter is short, the phone keeps ringing and coverage is confirmed only when the agency decides to call back. You are the one carrying the stress, not the agency.
“The invoice arrives. Again.”
A fee per shift, a wage premium per hour and hours of admin nobody bills for. You pay it, because until now there hasn't been another way to run relief.
What one agency-covered shift really costs
Multiply that by every relief shift, every location, every month you run. The pharmacist who actually worked the shift sees none of it.
The real cost isn't the invoice. It's never being in control.
You depend on the agency, pay a fee on every shift and a premium on every hour, make endless calls and follow-ups, never know for sure it's covered, and carry the stress home every time a shift opens up.
Agencies sell you coverage one shift at a time. Relief Guru gives you the system to run it yourself.
We know that loop well, because we were a relief agency. So we built the software that ends it: your own in-house relief system, with our network behind you when you need it.
With agencies, every shift starts from zero.
Same calls, same waiting, same $205–$450 fee, and nothing carries over to the next shift.
every week
With your own system, it’s a straight line from open to filled.
Your own people fill most shifts on the flat fee, and every post grows your pool. Agencies become a last resort you rarely need.
Post once, in 30 seconds
From your phone or desk. No calls, no group chats.
Choose who sees it
Every location, one pool. Overtime shown before you award.
Notify selected pools
The people you already trust, booked properly.
5,000+ network when you choose
Include the network whenever it suits the shift. No per-shift platform charge.
Filled. Confirmed. On the flat fee.
You knew the moment it happened.
Same shift, same pharmacist. One model rents you coverage.
The other builds you a system.
With an agency, every shift starts from zero: another call, another fee, another week of not knowing. With Relief Guru, every shift you post adds a known person to your own bench, so next week is easier than this one, and the week after that easier still.
The money you hand to agencies could be paying your own pharmacists.
Now let's talk about your money. Same shift, same pharmacist, same eight hours; the only thing that changes is who ends up with it.
Today · one agency shift, one location
Where the extra money goes now
5 shifts a month → $1,025. Over a year → $12,300 per location, paid to an agency and to admin, not to the people behind your counter. (Same defaults as the calculator below.)
With Relief Guru · same shift
Where it goes instead
This illustrative reduction uses the calculator defaults and excludes the platform subscription. Eligible corporate pharmacies can ask about the three-month free pilot. A pharmacy may choose to put savings toward its team.
That's the $12,300 you used to hand to agencies, minus one flat fee. It doesn't disappear when you switch; it becomes bonuses, better rates and retention for your own pharmacists, the people patients actually see.
Better-paid pharmacists → better service → happier customers
Better-paid, happier pharmacists
Agency money becomes bonuses and fair rates for your own team.
Better service at the counter
Familiar faces who already know your store, systems and patients.
Happier customers who come back
Consistent care builds loyalty, the revenue no agency invoice shows.
Every month on the agency model costs you more than the invoice shows.
And that gap keeps growing. Every month you stay on the agency model, you're not just paying more; you're missing the pool, the data and the control your own system would be building for you.
Add a staffing coordinator on top: ~$60k a year per 100 stores.Illustrative, using the ROI calculator defaults. Enter your own numbers below.
Your own staff can't see shifts at other stores
Sixty pharmacists, twelve stores, zero visibility. So you pay an outsider while your own people have a free day.
Relief people you trust stay stuck in WhatsApp
No scheduling, reminders, invoices or payment tracking. Every booking is a manual chase.
No data on fill rates, overtime or true cost
You find out what relief actually cost after payroll runs, not before you award the shift. No view of which stores burn the most.
The pool never gets stronger
Every agency shift is a one-off. Every Relief Guru shift adds a known, rated person to your own bench.
Post once. Choose which pools see the shift. The external network is available whenever you need it.
Choose a closed pharmacy or organisation pool, or widen the reach whenever you need it. Set visibility and timing for each shift. In an illustrative planning scenario, about 30% of shifts fill internally and all selected pools together can cover up to 80%; actual results vary.
Location staff
Your own part-time and casual team. They see the shift the second you post it.
Your local staff pool
Preferred relief
Relief pharmacists you already trust, saved as favourites. One tap reaches them all.
Your trusted relief contacts
Organisation-wide
Staff at your other locations or chosen partner pharmacies can cover the shift in one organised group.
Staff across locations
Relief Guru network
5,000+ professionals across Canada, available alongside your own pools with no per-shift platform fee.
External network available anytime
Outside agency
Other external channels remain optional and may have their own terms. Relief Guru has no per-shift platform charge.
Another channel if you choose
See what the agency model costs you today, and what you keep with Relief Guru.
Don't take our word for it. Start with one location and the defaults below, then enter your own agency fee, wage premium and admin time, and see your figure.
Your operation
What relief costs you today
Total relief cost right now
Estimated reduction before subscription
What you'd run on instead ≈ $4,900 / yr
How this is calculated
This illustrative model assumes an 8-hour shift, 80% fewer agency booking fees when selected pools cover those shifts, 30% lower wage premiums and 80% less admin time. These are planning assumptions, not a guaranteed outcome. The estimate excludes the Relief Guru subscription. The three-month free pilot is available only to eligible corporate pharmacies.
Illustrative figures for planning only, rounded to the nearest $100. Your demo call includes a tailored estimate.
Want the full breakdown?
Enter your details and we'll send you your agency fee, wage premium and admin time breakdown.
One store or a hundred, your own bench or none at all, there's a way to run in-house relief.
You might be thinking this is only for big chains. It isn't. Whether you run a corporate group (where it works best), a banner or a single independent store, there's a way to run it that fits you.
Internal only
For you if: you run a chain with enough staff to cover your own shifts.
One pool across every location. Post a shift; your own staff apply. Closed to outside companies, with overtime alerts before you award.
External only
For you if: you have no internal bench to draw on yet.
5,000+ verified relief pros on tap whenever a shift needs covering, with no per-shift agency fee.
Internal + external Most chains run it this way
For you if: you run a chain, a banner or several pharmacies.
Choose when your own staff, trusted relief and the network can see a shift. One system, one platform fee and reach when you need it.
Preferred relief, properly
For you if: you book relievers you already know over WhatsApp and calls.
Onboard the people you trust and book them agency-style: scheduling, reminders, invoicing, payments, all in one place.
Single store, last-minute
For you if: you run one independent store.
Someone calls in sick? Post the shift in 30 seconds; it goes straight to your own team.
Whichever way a pharmacy runs it, your side stays simple: one app, every shift, no agency cut.
Pick up relief shifts
Open shifts near you appear the moment they're posted, with rate, hours and location up front. Book in a tap, message the pharmacy directly, and hand a shift back with no cancellation fee.
Find a permanent role
Browse full- and part-time roles and apply straight to the employer, with no recruiter and nothing taken off your pay. One profile covers relief and permanent, so you keep picking up shifts while you search.
One app, every pharmacy
Independent, banner or corporate, it's the same app and the same $0 fees. Keep 100% of what you earn, get paid weekly or bi-weekly, and track every shift, invoice and payment in one place.
Every tool in the app exists to remove one thing you used to chase, worry about, or pay for.
The cascade is only half of it. Here is what each tool in the app takes off your plate, and what you get back in return.
Your sixty pharmacists across twelve stores finally see the same shifts.
Connect staff across locations with highly customisable visibility settings. Keep a closed environment for your pharmacy or organisation, and choose who can see each shift. Reach your pool for urgent cover or vacation planning.
- Your own people cover each other before any outsider is called
- Wage premium down 30–40% by using your own staff
- Every manager level sees only what they need
Invite your people together. Post your shifts in one go.
Send invitations to selected staff and relief professionals together. When you have several shifts to fill, add their dates, locations and requirements, then publish them in one go.
- Choose the people you want to invite
- Post multiple shifts across your locations
- Keep applications together for review
Bulk Invite
Select people to invite.
Bulk Posting
Add shifts to publish.
Set your rules once. The right person is picked for you.
AutoSelect awards the shift to the best-matched applicant automatically, using rules you set: seniority, hours already worked, distance, rate. You approve the rules, not every application.
- No comparing twelve applications at 10pm
- No chasing “are you still available?”
- Coverage confirmed while you're with a patient
WhatsApp
Facebook
LinkedIn
Google
One post reaches everyone: your team, your favourites, even social media.
Share an open shift with your pools and through WhatsApp, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google or your website. Applications from every channel come together so you can review candidates and select the best fit.
- No copy-pasting the same message into five group chats
- Higher fill rate because more of the right people see it, faster
- Last-minute cancellations covered without the panic
Know the overtime cost before you award the shift, not after payroll.
You see hours already worked and projected overtime at the moment you assign someone, and wage caps by tier keep every award inside your budget.
- No surprise on the payroll run
- Confident decisions about who gets the shift
- Budget questions answered with a report, not a guess
Life happens. Swaps happen in the app, not in your inbox.
When someone needs to swap a booked shift, it returns to the shift board. All staff in the pool are notified immediately and can apply to cover it. Track replacement coverage in the app.
- No 6am “can anyone cover me?” texts landing on you
- All pool staff notified immediately
- Your staff feel trusted, not policed
A fair rate agreed in one tap, not a week of back-and-forth.
Applicants can request a rate; you accept, counter or decline in one tap. Add a bonus for a hard-to-fill shift. Everything is recorded against the shift and flows into the invoice.
- No awkward phone calls about money
- Hard shifts filled by making them worth it, transparently
- The rate you agreed is the rate on the invoice
Every conversation about a shift, in one place. Never in a group chat again.
Message applicants, confirm details and answer questions inside the shift itself. Reminders and notifications go out automatically, so nobody forgets and nothing gets lost.
- No scrolling WhatsApp to find who said what
- Reminders sent for you, before you remember to
- Real-time support from our team in the same app
Stop paying agency fees for every shift.
Run relief in-house.
Relief Guru is not a relief agency. Our software helps corporate, banner and independent pharmacies manage their own relief staffing, with a verified relief network available whenever extra support is needed.
Traditional agency
The old wayIn-house relief staffing
Powered by Relief GuruFor corporate, banner and independent pharmaciesYou pay a connection fee on every shift, on top of the wage.
We only charge for platform use. One flat monthly fee per store. No per-shift connection fee.
Three costs stack up: the agency fee, a higher hourly wage, and your manager's time to find cover.
A fraction of the cost. The monthly fee is often less than one agency shift.
Whoever the agency sends. Agencies earn more when you book more, so they never let you connect your own staff and known relief people.
Your own people first. Staff from your store, your other stores and relief people you already know. Then Relief Guru's verified relief network.
No tools to reach more people. You only get the agency's own list.
Tools to raise your fill rate. Share shifts on different channels to attract external talent, with no per-shift charges.
Panic when a shift opens last minute, or stays unfilled in flu season, holidays, vacation time or a crisis like COVID-19.
Peace of mind. All your staff are connected and ready to take shifts when you need them most.
Bills change every month. Hard to plan and hard to predict.
You own the budget. A fixed platform cost, and you set the wage for each shift.
The agency decides who works and when.
You decide. Choose who sees each shift, when, and at which stores.
Good staff leave for agencies to get flexible hours. Then you pay more to book them back.
Offer flexibility inside your company. Staff pick up extra shifts at other stores and stay with you.
New faces need time to learn your systems and workflow.
People who already know your systems, your SOPs and your patients.
Calls, texts and WhatsApp to find cover. Invoices to check and track.
Post a shift to all pools in 30 seconds. Staff apply in real time. Everything is tracked, managed and organised for you. No more manual chaos.
Reactive. You call the agency after the problem starts.
Proactive. An enterprise-level system by your side changes how you plan and act.
A short-term fix. You rent relief shift by shift and depend on agencies year after year.
A sustainable system for the long run. Your internal relief pool grows stronger and agency spend drops every year.
Now is the time to control your budget and get peace of mind.
We kept our fees low for one reason: to help every pharmacy in Canada control its staffing cost. And with our money-back guarantee, you can try this digital system risk free.
Keep 100% of your pay. Pick shifts on your own terms.
If you're a pharmacist or technician, Relief Guru does not deduct a per-shift platform fee from your agreed pay. Pharmacies pay for platform access, not per shift, leaving more room in their budget for your rate or bonus. See the location, hours and offered rate, then decide which opportunities fit.
A fee takes part of the budget.
No fee on each shift.
- 100% of your pay, every shiftAgency fees can reduce the budget available for your pay. Here you get the full agreed rate on every shift, paid weekly or bi-weekly.
- $0 cancellation fees, everPlans change. Swap a shift in the app for free instead of paying a penalty or losing your standing.
- One app for relief shifts and permanent rolesPick up shifts near you the moment they're posted, or apply for full- and part-time roles directly. No recruiter, nothing off your pay.
- Your rate, your scheduleSee the location, hours and offered rate up front, discuss rates directly with the pharmacy, and only take the shifts that suit you.
Still weighing it up? Here are the answers.
Pricing, contracts, verification, payments and cancellations, in plain words. If your question isn't here, ask our team and we'll walk you through it.
Relief Guru is the software you use to run your own in-house relief staffing. Post a shift to the staff, preferred and external pools you choose, in the order or timing you set. The 5,000+ professional network is available whenever you need it. It also handles permanent hiring. It replaces per-shift agency invoices with one flat monthly fee.
Relief Guru does not deduct a per-shift platform fee from professional pay. Pharmacies use a monthly platform subscription with no per-shift platform charge. The three-month free pilot is available only to eligible corporate pharmacies; independent pharmacies can get started on their applicable plan. Ask our team for current plan terms.
The three-month free pilot is for eligible corporate pharmacies only. Our team can confirm eligibility and terms. Independent pharmacies can get started and review the applicable platform plan.
Timing varies by shift and location. Choose which staff pools and network professionals can see the shift, and whether they are notified together or in sequence. The external network is available whenever you need wider reach.
Yes. Every professional in the external network goes through licence validation, credential checks and background screening. You can see ratings, reviews and work history before you book. Your own staff are onboarded and managed by you.
Your data is encrypted and hosted in Canada, on Canadian infrastructure, and handled in line with PIPEDA. Visibility is configurable by pharmacy or organisation, including closed pools and access by head office, region, district and store.
Ask our team for the current subscription and cancellation terms. Eligible corporate pharmacies can also discuss the three-month pilot terms during a discovery call.
Yes. Relief Guru operates across every Canadian province, with a growing network of pharmacies and verified professionals in both city and rural areas.
There is no per-shift platform charge. A monthly platform subscription applies; eligible corporate pharmacies may qualify for a three-month free pilot. Ask our team for your plan terms.
Relief Guru used to be a relief agency. Now it is the system you use to run relief staffing yourself. There is no Relief Guru per-shift platform charge or middleman wage markup. Ask our team about current subscription terms. You choose pool visibility and timing, and the external network is available whenever needed. In an illustrative scenario, around 30% of shifts fill internally and all selected pools together can cover up to 80%. Actual fill rates vary.
Never. As a pharmacy professional you keep 100% of your earnings, with $0 platform fees, ever. The pharmacy pays for the software, not you.
Payments are processed weekly or bi-weekly and deposited straight into your bank account. No chasing, no waiting weeks, no paperwork.
Yes. Browse available shifts in your area, pick the ones that fit, and work as much or as little as you want. No minimum hours and no mandatory commitments.
When someone releases a booked shift, it returns to the shift board and all staff in the selected pools are notified immediately. Available staff can apply to cover it. Check current cancellation terms for your plan.
You can include the 5,000+ professional network when you post a shift or add it later. Choose visibility and timing for each pool. There is no per-shift Relief Guru platform charge.
90-day assistance is available only with Comprehensive Hiring under agreed service terms. It is not included with a self-managed job post. Contact our team for details.
Build a relief pool you can use again. Choose your starting point.
Chains and multi-location pharmacies can book a discovery call and ask about the eligible corporate pilot. Independent pharmacies can get started and review their plan. Pharmacists and technicians can find shifts and discuss rates directly with pharmacies.
