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 B.C. pharmacy. Exceptions may be made for border community B.C. residents for whom the closest pharmacy is out-of-province.

Policy Details

Out-of-province prescriptions

As per the College of Pharmacists of BC, prescriptions issued in other provinces may be dispensed by a B.C. 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.

​Out-of-country prescriptions

Prescriptions issued in another country (including the USA) 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