How we check prices, and how we label what we have not
Every figure on this site carries one of three labels. This page explains what each one means, what a total includes, what we deliberately leave out, and where the money comes from.
Where pharmacy prices come from
Three tiers, and the table says which one a row belongs to. We never move a figure up a tier to make it look better than it is.
We phoned that counter. Our own call to a named pharmacy on a named date, asking the cash price for a specific drug, strength and quantity with the dispensing fee recorded separately. The row shows the date. This is the only label that means we did the work ourselves.
Someone else phoned it. A published August 2026 retail phone audit of Canadian pharmacy chains, covering Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and generic semaglutide at the chains it named. Real observations, not ours, so the label says Audited rather than Verified.
Modelled from list pricing. Published manufacturer and pharmacy list prices, adjusted by a province factor and each chain's typical markup, plus that chain's standard dispensing fee. A realistic starting point and nothing more. Confirm an Estimated figure with the pharmacy before you rely on it.
An observed price is used exactly as observed. We do not scale an audited Costco figure by a province or city factor, because that would turn an observation back into a model while it still wore the Audited label. Modelled rows do vary by geography; observed rows do not.
What a price includes
Every total is the drug cost plus that chain's standard dispensing fee, because the fee is what you pay at the counter and it differs by more than eight dollars between banners. Prescription drugs carry no sales tax in Canada, so nothing is added for tax. A total assumes no insurance. What your plan reimburses afterwards is between you and the plan.
The chains we track: Costco Pharmacy, CanadaDrugsOnline, Walmart Pharmacy, Real Canadian Superstore, Save-On-Foods, London Drugs, Rexall, Shoppers Drug Mart. Two of those operate in Western Canada only, and Costco has no pharmacy in Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island or Newfoundland and Labrador. A chain that does not operate in a province is left out of that province's table rather than shown with a price nobody there can pay.
The savings-card column
The Ozempic card's published promise is brand priced in line with generic semaglutide, so the with-card figure for Ozempic is that pharmacy's own generic price plus its fee. That is the programme's claim, not our invention. For programmes that publish no fixed amount we say so in the cell rather than print a number. Cards generally cannot be combined with public plans such as ODB, NIHB or BC PharmaCare, and the Ozempic card does not apply in Quebec; the table reflects both.
What we leave out
Compounded semaglutide. It is not a Health Canada approved manufacturer product, dose and purity are not held to the same standard, and Health Canada has warned about it specifically. Its prices sit far below anything on this site, and that gap is a reason for caution rather than a saving.
Competitor price trackers. We cross-checked figures against them while building the model, but we cite none, because this site's tables should stand on their own sources and on reports a reader can open directly.
Patient receipts, as data. A price someone posted to Reddit is one till on one day. We cite each one individually under the row it supports, marked as a report, and never fold it into a figure.
City figures
A city figure is the cheapest counter we track in that market, including its dispensing fee, with chains that do not operate there removed. The short note beside each city describes the local market, which chains compete and why the floor sits where it does. Those notes are editorial. They are not price quotes, and they are reviewed rather than generated.
Telehealth providers
Provider fees, coverage and per-drug prices come from the providers themselves and are held in one place shared with our sister site, so a change reaches both on the next build. Where a provider does not publish which provinces it serves, the table says "not disclosed" rather than guessing. All-in monthly plans that include the medication are compared directly against pharmacy totals; consult-only services are not, because you still pay a pharmacy.
How this site makes money
We earn a commission when a reader signs up with some telehealth providers, and one provider pays a flat sponsorship fee for a labelled placement. Every such link carries rel="sponsored", every paid placement is marked Sponsored where it appears, and outbound clicks route through our own /go/ redirect so we can see which placement converted. Commissions and sponsorship never change which pharmacies appear, the order rows sort in, or any published price. Pharmacy price tables contain no paid placements.
Corrections
If a number here does not match what your pharmacy quotes, the pharmacy is right. Tell us the pharmacy, the city, the drug and strength, and the date, and we will check it and correct the row. Corrections are logged.
What this site is not
We publish drug names, prices and quantities. We make no therapeutic claims and give no medical advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to start, stop or switch a medication. That is a conversation with your prescriber and your pharmacist.