Prescriptions

Switching Pharmacies in Ontario

It is easy to transfer prescriptions in Ontario. Transferring a prescription to a new pharmacy in Ontario requires no coordination on your end; the pharmacies will do the heavy lifting. The process will generally look like this:

1. Contact the new pharmacy. You can call or visit the pharmacy that you want to switch to.
2. Give details. You’d typically give your name, DOB, and the name (and preferably the phone number) of your previous pharmacy. To ease the process, consider giving the new pharmacy your old pharmacy’s phone number too.
3. Specify medications. You can transfer your entire file or just specific prescription(s).

That’s it. The new pharmacy will contact your old one and pull your active refills over. If you have private insurance, the new pharmacy should be able to grab that as well. You do not need to contact your old pharmacy to cancel anything.

Drug Shortages

TBA

Checking Stock

Most pharmacies do not publish their drug stock online. Thus, in most cases, you will need to call each pharmacy to inquire about their stock. Generally, pharmacies are quick to answer calls and will happily provide an update about their stock.

To help steamline this, I recommend having the drug name and dose and/or the Drug Identification Number (DIN) on hand.

Drug Identification Number (DIN)

You can find the DIN in a few places:

1. Pharmacy receipts - your past pharmacy receipts will note the DIN. Find the number labelled ‘DIN’.
2. Prescription bottle and/or packaging - the packaging and label will sometimes include the DIN.
3. Drug Product Database online query - this query tool can be a bit overhwleming to use. You might be better off just typing into Google “<drug name> <dose> DIN”.

Shoppers Drug Mart Medication Locator

Shoppers Drug Mart has an online website where you can search for drug stock across some Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacies. You can search by medication name, brand, or DIN.

Note that stock availability, even when searching for a specific drug, will list drugs being ‘in stock’ if the medication and its brand equivalent is in stock. This is important if you, for example, require the brand name version of the drug and not generics.

Suggested Tips

TBA

Example: Estradot (estradiol patches)

TBA