+1(514) 937-9445 or Toll-free (Canada & US) +1 (888) 947-9445

HOW MUCH PRESCRIPTION DRUGS I CAN CARRY!

vpsw

Full Member
Apr 23, 2017
30
8
Hi I Can anyone please let me know how much prescription drugs I can carry during landing. Actually I am a Kidney transplant case and on regular medications. The fact that my prescription drugs will not be covered under insurance until unless I have a employers health insurance in Canada.
Hence please let me know, I am planning to do my landing next month and plan to take 6 months prescription drugs with me. Can I carry that much quantity if I have a letter/proper prescription from a Doctor from my country. Please Help
 

zardoz

VIP Member
Feb 2, 2013
13,304
2,166
Canada
Category........
FAM
Visa Office......
London
App. Filed.......
16-02-2013
VISA ISSUED...
31-07-2013
LANDED..........
09-11-2013
Hi I Can anyone please let me know how much prescription drugs I can carry during landing. Actually I am a Kidney transplant case and on regular medications. The fact that my prescription drugs will not be covered under insurance until unless I have a employers health insurance in Canada.
Hence please let me know, I am planning to do my landing next month and plan to take 6 months prescription drugs with me. Can I carry that much quantity if I have a letter/proper prescription from a Doctor from my country. Please Help
https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/dm-md/d19/d19-9-1-eng.html

Personal Importation of Prescription Drugs
Health Canada considers a personal importation as an importation by an individual for their own use or for the use of a person under their care or guardianship and which does not meet the definition of a commercial importation as set out in paragraph 16 of this memorandum.

22. Under C.01.045 of the Food and Drug Regulations, importation of prescription drugs is restricted to practitioners, drug manufacturers, wholesale druggists or registered pharmacists, or a resident of a foreign country while a visitor in Canada. Note that drugs imported by practitioners for treating patients are not considered to be personal importations but rather commercial importation for sale.

Canadian Residents

23. Health Canada may exercise enforcement discretion to permit a Canadian returning from abroad to bring with them, on their person, a single course of treatment or a 90-day supply based on the directions for use, whichever is less, of a prescription drug. This discretion is generally reserved for Canadian residents returning to Canada with prescription drugs which were dispensed for a treatment prior to leaving Canada, or drugs obtained through a filled prescription to treat an illness while abroad.

24. Prescription drugs imported in this fashion must be for the individual's personal use or the use of a person for whom they are responsible and with whom they are travelling.Additionally, all personal importations of prescription drugs must be packaged in the hospital, pharmacy dispensing or retail packaging, or have the original label affixed to it clearly indicating what the product is and what it contains.

25. The CBSA may detain and refer prescription drugs to Health Canada when these conditions are not met.

26. Canadian residents may not import prescription drugs by mail or courier.

Non-Residents of Canada

27. Visitors to Canada and non-residents arriving from abroad are permitted to import a single course of treatment or a 90-day supply of a prescription drug hand-carried for their personal use or the use of a person under their care and with whom they are travelling.

28. Visitors and non-residents are allowed to import a single course of treatment or a 90 day supply of a prescription drug by mail or courier.

29. All personal importations of prescription drugs must be packaged in the hospital, pharmacy dispensing or retail packaging, or have the original label affixed to it clearly indicating what the product is and what it contains.

30. The CBSA may detain and refer prescription drugs to Health Canada when these conditions are not met.
 
  • Like
Reactions: canuck78

Javeline

Star Member
Jun 15, 2017
138
140
AOR Received.
12/4/2017
IELTS Request
Along with application
File Transfer...
12/5/2017
Med's Request
24/4/2018
Med's Done....
11/5/2018 - pass 3 days later
Interview........
None
Passport Req..
23/5/2018
VISA ISSUED...
18-06-2018
LANDED..........
Sep 2018
Then can anyone tell me: after 90 days, what should we do if we need to continue our medication?! Can we bring prescription paper to hospital or pharmastore to buy? I see some advertisements in supermarket also talking about my medicine!
 

canuck_in_uk

VIP Member
May 4, 2012
31,558
7,195
Visa Office......
London
App. Filed.......
06/12
Then can anyone tell me: after 90 days, what should we do if we need to continue our medication?! Can we bring prescription paper to hospital or pharmastore to buy? I see some advertisements in supermarket also talking about my medicine!
You need to go see a doctor to get a prescription.
 

vpsw

Full Member
Apr 23, 2017
30
8
You can only carry 90 days of Prescriptions. Make sure they are well-labeled or in their original packaging.
Thank you for a prompt reply, In case I can carry a 90 day prescription then Can I ask a relative travelling to canada to get the next 90 days for me.
 

canuck78

VIP Member
Jun 18, 2017
52,959
12,759
Thank you for a prompt reply, In case I can carry a 90 day prescription then Can I ask a relative travelling to canada to get the next 90 days for me.
No because one thing they will check is that the name on the prescription is the same as the name of the person carrying the prescription. You could get arrested if you are carrying someone's medication and it is a controlled substance (e.g.narcotics, etc). As a resident of Canada you are expected to pay the medication costs negotiated by the Canadian government as well as use a Canadian doctor and pharmacist. Lots of people would import medication from abroad at a lower cost if they were allowed to.
 

Bs65

VIP Member
Mar 22, 2016
13,190
2,419
You simply need to accept that you will be a Canadian resident and will need to sort out your prescription in Canada. In hindsight maybe you should have taken this into account given your medical condition that obviously requires some long term maintenance/observation.

Also note that it is illegal to have drugs mailed into Canada so that is not an alternative from your home country.
 
Last edited: