3.6 Patients - With Out-of-Province/Country Prescriptions

General Policy Description

PharmaCare coverage is limited to medications prescribed by a practitioner licensed and practicing in British Columbia and dispensed at a British Columbia pharmacy. Exceptions may be made for border community British Columbia residents for whom the closest pharmacy is out-of-province.

Policy Details

Out-of-province prescriptions

College of Pharmacists of BC: Prescriptions issued in other provinces may be dispensed by a British Columbia pharmacist when the pharmacist is sure that they are bona fide prescriptions.

For information on coverage of out-of-province prescriptions, refer to Section 1—Introduction to the BC PharmaCare Program of this manual.

​Out-of-country prescriptions

Prescriptions issued in another country (including the U.S.A.) cannot be dispensed by a B.C. pharmacist. This is prohibited by the Canada Food and Drugs Act.

Anyone, whether or not a Canadian resident, who holds a prescription written by an out-of-country practitioner may have the prescription dispensed by a B.C. pharmacist only if the prescription has been either

• Rewritten, on the practitioner’s own prescription pad, by a practitioner licensed to prescribe in a Canadian jurisdiction; or
• Co-signed by a Canadian practitioner.