Calgary $262
Lowest big-city total we track. Costco Beacon Hill and three Superstore pharmacies compete inside a 6 km radius, and Alberta caps nothing; the market does it.
GLP-1 price index
What GLP-1s actually cost in Ontario
Cash prices at every pharmacy chain we track, dispensing fee included in the total. No article to scroll past.
Audited and estimated figures — how we work them out.
Cheapest generic, monthly
$92
Brand Ozempic 1 mg
$262
Cities tracked
49
Ozempic in Ontario, cheapest first
Monthly total at each chain, dispensing fee included. The Checked column says where each figure came from.
You bring the prescription
| Where | Route | Drug | Dispensing fee | Monthly total | Per dose | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Membership not required to use the pharmacy | In person | $258 | $4 | $262 | $66 | Audited Aug 2026 |
| Walmart Pharmacy | In person | $262 | $12 | $274 | $69 | Audited Aug 2026 |
| CanadaDrugsOnline Mail order · 3–5 business days | Mail order | $277 | — | $277 | $69 | Estimated |
| Rexall | In person | $276 | $13 | $289 | $72 | Audited Aug 2026 |
| Real Canadian Superstore | In person | $293 | $12 | $305 | $76 | Estimated |
| Shoppers Drug Mart iii | In person | $300 | $14 | $314 | $79 | Audited Aug 2026 |
Totals assume one pen of four weekly doses unless the medication is a daily tablet. Chains that do not operate in a province are omitted, which is often why one province's floor sits higher than another's.
Rows marked Audited come from a published retail phone audit of Canadian pharmacy counters; rows marked Estimated are modelled from list pricing and each chain’s dispensing fee, so confirm those before you rely on one. The reports below are patients posting their own receipts. Each is a single till on a single day, not a survey, so they are cited against the row they support rather than folded into the figures above. i r/Ozempic — getting it from Costco ii r/CostcoCanada — with the Novo price-match card iii r/CostcoCanada — unassisted chain rate iv r/CostcoCanada — Ozempic and Wegovy pricing in Quebec
Or skip the pharmacy counter entirely
Online prescribers handle the assessment and the prescription, and some include the medication in a single monthly price. Those totals are directly comparable to the pharmacy figures above; consult-only services are not, because you still pay a pharmacy.
Online prescribers and all-in monthly plans
| Provider | Brand Ozempic / mo | Generic / mo | Coverage | Consult & fees | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BirchRx Top pick | Not offered | $149 first mo then $199 | ON, BC, AB, SK only | Free assessment; pay only if approved | |
| MyRocky Best 12-month value | From $200 | $149 + $60 program fee | All 10 provinces (incl. QC) | $99 consult, labs incl.; $60/mo program fee | |
| $149 | $149 per pen | All provinces (excl. QC) | $99 setup + $40 / quarter | ||
| Via pharmacy | Via pharmacy | 9 provinces + Yukon | $49–$79 per visit or membership; labs separate | ||
| From $149 | From $149 | ON, BC, AB (expanding) | Included in program |
BirchRx prescribes in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan only, and is the cheapest way to start at $149 for month one against $248 elsewhere. MyRocky remains the pick in the other six provinces and for brand-name GLP-1s. Maple prescribes but does not dispense, so its medication cost is whatever your pharmacy charges. Provider names link to our full review.
Three ways to pay less, ranked by how much they save
Biggest single saving up to 60%
Switch to generic semaglutide
Generic semaglutide reached Canadian pharmacies in 2026. Where it is clinically appropriate, it is the largest cost difference available on this page, and it is the same molecule as the brand.
Read the generic guide → Same drug, different counter up to $120/mo
Change pharmacy, not medication
The identical pen varies by more than a hundred dollars a month between chains in the same city, before dispensing fees. Membership warehouse pharmacies are usually lowest and do not require membership.
Compare chains below → If you have coverage varies
Check your provincial plan first
Public plans cover GLP-1s only for type 2 diabetes, and only against documented criteria. Private plans differ again. Confirm before you assume the cash price applies to you.
Provincial coverage rules →GLP-1 prices city by city in Ontario
Where the cheapest counter in each market sits, and what makes it cheap or expensive. Chain coverage differs by city, which is usually the reason for the gap.
Edmonton $262
Effectively tied with Calgary. Two Costco pharmacies plus dense Superstore coverage; south-side stores quote lower than downtown independents.
Red Deer $262
Costco Gasoline Alley keeps this well below the national average for a city its size.
Lethbridge $262
One Costco pharmacy; otherwise Superstore and Save-On set the floor.
Fort McMurray $274
No Costco pharmacy this far north, so mail order and Save-On-Foods are the practical options.
Surrey $262
BC's cheapest metro. Costco South Surrey and Save-On-Foods overlap here; the only market where both discounters undercut the same postal code.
Burnaby $262
Costco Still Creek is the cheapest counter serving Metro Vancouver, and it is a short drive from the city proper.
Richmond $262
Costco Bridgeport plus strong Save-On coverage; cheaper than crossing into Vancouver.
Abbotsford $262
Fraser Valley pricing tracks Surrey closely thanks to a local Costco pharmacy.
Kelowna $262
Interior pricing runs slightly above the Lower Mainland; Costco Kelowna is still the floor.
Vancouver $274
City-proper pricing runs above Surrey and Burnaby. No Costco pharmacy inside Vancouver itself; the nearest are Still Creek and Richmond, which is why mail order wins here if you will not cross the boundary.
Victoria $274
Island premium is real but small. Mail order is cheapest outright; London Drugs and Save-On-Foods are the walk-in floor, and the nearest Costco pharmacy is Langford.
Nanaimo $274
Island market with no Costco pharmacy dispensing GLP-1s; mail order usually beats every local counter.
Mississauga $262
Cheaper than neighbouring Toronto on identical product. Four Costco pharmacies inside the city limits is the reason; worth the drive from west-end Toronto.
Brampton $262
Two Costco pharmacies and heavy Superstore coverage make this one of the cheapest counters in the GTA.
Hamilton $262
One Costco Ancaster serves the whole city, so the cheapest price is real but the drive is longer than a Toronto equivalent.
Kitchener $262
Costco Kitchener anchors the region; Waterloo and Cambridge counters price against it.
Windsor $262
Single Costco on Division Road. Cross-border pricing is not a legal option, so this is your floor.
Ottawa $262
Two Costco pharmacies, and Quebec pricing across the river is higher; don't cross to Gatineau expecting a saving.
Oshawa $262
Costco Oshawa keeps Durham Region marginally below Toronto proper.
Toronto $274
Most pharmacies of any Canadian city and not the cheapest. No Costco pharmacy operates inside the city limits, so mail order beats every walk-in counter here; and downtown Shoppers locations carry the highest dispensing fees we record in Ontario.
Barrie $262
Costco Barrie serves a wide rural catchment, which keeps it competitive.
London $262
Single Costco on Wonderland Road. Beyond it, pricing converges on the Ontario chain average with little competitive pressure.
Quebec City $274
Quebec regulates pharmacist fees differently, which lifts every quote in the province. No Costco pharmacy dispenses GLP-1s here, so mail order sets the floor.
Gatineau $274
Quebec rules apply despite Ottawa being minutes away; and an Ontario pharmacy cannot bill you as a Quebec resident on Ontario terms.
Sherbrooke $274
Mid-size Quebec market with thin discount coverage; mail order is usually cheapest.
Trois-Rivières $274
Same provincial fee structure, fewer chains competing than Montreal or Quebec City.
Laval $274
Island-adjacent pricing tracks Montreal almost exactly.
Montreal $274
Highest large-city pricing in Canada on identical product. Quebec's professional-fee structure, plus no Costco pharmacy dispensing GLP-1s on the island.
Winnipeg $262
Manitoba's professional fee is published per-prescription, so the dispensing line is predictable. Costco St. James is the cheapest counter in the city.
Brandon $274
No Costco pharmacy; Save-On-Foods and Superstore set the walk-in floor, mail order often beats both.
Steinbach $274
Small market, no discounter; most residents drive to Winnipeg or use mail order.
Saskatoon $262
Saskatchewan's drug plan sets a standard dispensing fee, which narrows the spread between chains more than any other province we track.
Regina $262
Costco Regina plus the provincial standard fee keeps this close to Saskatoon.
Prince Albert $274
No Costco pharmacy; the provincial standard fee still limits how far local counters can drift.
Moose Jaw $274
Nearest Costco pharmacy is Regina; worth the drive if you fill monthly.
Halifax $262
Atlantic Canada's best-served market. One Costco Bayers Lake, and Superstore coverage is genuinely competitive on dispensing fees.
Dartmouth $262
Shares Halifax's Costco catchment across the harbour; pricing is effectively identical.
Truro $274
No local discounter; mail order or a Halifax trip are the cheaper routes.
Sydney $274
Cape Breton pricing is the highest in the province; mail order is usually cheapest.
Moncton $274
New Brunswick's cheapest market. No Costco pharmacy operates in the province, so mail order is the cheapest route and Superstore sets the walk-in floor.
Dieppe $274
Shares Moncton's pharmacy market; pricing is effectively the same.
Fredericton $274
Provincial capital, still no discounter; the same provincial rules as Moncton with slightly thinner competition.
Saint John $274
Thin chain coverage and no discounter means less competitive pressure than Moncton. Mail order is the cheaper route from here.
Charlottetown $274
Small market, few chains, and no discounter. Mail order is usually the cheaper route from PEI.
Summerside $274
Fewer counters than Charlottetown on identical provincial rules; mail order is the practical floor.
St. John's $274
Most expensive metro we track. Mail-order pharmacy beats every local counter here, which is not true in most Canadian cities.
Mount Pearl $274
Shares the St. John's market; the same mail-order logic applies.
Corner Brook $274
Western Newfoundland, thinnest coverage in our index; mail order by a clear margin.
We do not track individual cities in this province yet. The provincial figures above apply.
Understanding GLP-1 pricing
Why does the same pen cost different amounts in different cities?
Manufacturers set a list price, but each pharmacy adds its own markup and dispensing fee on top, and those vary by banner and by location. A city with several competing warehouse or grocery pharmacies inside a short drive tends to have a lower floor than one served mainly by independents. Which chains operate in a province at all also matters: Costco has no pharmacy in Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island or Newfoundland and Labrador, which removes the usual cheapest option from those markets entirely.
Is the dispensing fee included in these totals?
Yes. Every total on this page is the drug cost plus that chain's standard dispensing fee, because the fee is what you actually pay at the counter and it differs by more than eight dollars between banners. Prescription drugs are not subject to sales tax in Canada, so no tax is added. What is not included is anything your plan might reimburse afterwards.
Are these prices verified?
Not yet. The figures on this page are modelled from published list prices and market factors, which makes them a realistic starting point rather than a quote. We are phoning pharmacies city by city and replacing modelled figures with verified ones as the survey completes; a verified price carries the pharmacy, the city and the date we called. Until a row shows that, treat it as an estimate and confirm with the pharmacy. Our full method is on the methodology page.
Does going through a telehealth provider work out cheaper?
Sometimes, and it depends mostly on whether you need a prescription at all. If you already have one, filling it at the cheapest local counter is normally the lowest total. If you do not, a telehealth service bundles the assessment, the prescription and often the medication into a monthly fee, which can beat paying separately for a consult. The trade-off is that most bundle you into their own dispensing arrangement, so the per-month medication cost is set by them rather than by the market.
What about compounded semaglutide?
We exclude it. Compounded GLP-1 products are not Health Canada-approved manufacturer products, the dose and purity are not guaranteed to the same standard, and Health Canada has warned about them specifically. Prices for compounded products are often far below anything on this page, and that gap is the reason to be cautious rather than a saving to chase.
Rows marked Audited come from a published retail phone audit; rows marked Estimated are modelled from list prices and market factors. Confirm with the pharmacy before you rely on a figure. Our full method, including the provincial formulary sources we check, is on the methodology page. Spot a wrong price? Tell us.