Background: There is a need to improve access to HIV testing to detect infections earlier so individuals can access care and prevent transmission. Barriers to testing include limited access or reluctance to go to traditional testing sites, and the lengthy wait time to receive results. Pharmacists are trusted, accessible health providers and are well positioned to offer HIV testing. Point of care tests (POCT) for HIV are easy to administer and results available within minutes, making them ideal for use in the pharmacy setting. HIV POCT may overcome barriers to standard testing for those at high risk and in healthcare resource-limited settings. Preliminary data suggest pharmacist-administered POCT can reach those who have never had an HIV test. Implementation and effectiveness of pharmacist-delivered POCT is the focus of this study. Study goals: To determine whether a multi-faceted HIV POCT program adapted for community pharmacies in two Canadian provinces is acceptable, feasible and effective in reaching those at high risk and those who have never been tested. Implementation and effectiveness of an integrated, contextualized model of HIV POCT in urban and rural pharmacies in Newfoundland (NL) and Alberta (AB) will be assessed. Participant characteristics, responses to satisfaction measures on the participant questionnaire, and pharmacist time to offer HIV POCT were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Pre-testing questionnaire data was used to calculate a Denver HIV Risk Score for each participant, as a means to predict their probability of having an undiagnosed HIV infection. ANOVA was used to assess differences in participants' Denver HIV Risk Scores between provinces, and urban versus rural testing sites, and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to assess differences in participant satisfaction with the testing experience based on province, urban/rural testing site, sex, and history of prior HIV testing. Fisher's Exact tests were used to assess whether history of prior HIV testing depended on province or urban/rural centre for testing. Qualitative data were analysed using a thematic analysis approach. Interview transcripts and extensive field notes were included for analysis from the participant interviews and pharmacist focus groups. Transcripts from participant interviews were coded using an open or emergent scheme where codes were developed and modified throughout the coding process. Descriptive codes were assigned to identify recurring concepts, and sub-themes were then identified and. Themes from the pharmacist focus groups were considered according to the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation, Behaviour (COM-B) model to understand behaviour change, which considers opportunities and challenges in the context of professional capability, opportunity, and motivation to offer the HIV POCT program. Impact: This study will inform further modifications to the pharmacy HIV POCT model to optimize effectiveness and increase scalability prior to full adoption and implementation. This will form the basis for a subsequent grant application. Knowledge gained can be used to scale up effective testing programs to increase the number of high risk individuals getting tested. The pharmacy is a novel venue to offer HIV testing, and if successful could be a widely accessible option applicable to other provinces and other countries. This study will provide proof of concept for pharmacy based POCT for other sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBI) (once tests become available) and successful implementation may also lead to pharmacist-delivered pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) programs, to further reduce HIV infection rates.