The pharmacy briefing

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Canadian pharmacy and therapeutics news: recalls, shortages, guideline updates and developments in practice.

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Sanofi Opens $925M Toronto Flu Vaccine Facility to Expand Domestic Supply

Sanofi opened its Charles Best Building in Toronto on September 16, adding Canadian capacity for end-to-end production of Fluzone High-Dose. The facility is expected to begin supply for the 2027–2028 influenza season after regulatory approval, giving pharmacists an important future signal for vaccine availability and seasonal planning.

Sep 22, 2026 · 2 min read Read briefing

Photo: Polina Tankilevitch/Pexels — illustrative laboratory image, not the Sanofi facility. Source: Image source · Pexels licence: Image source

Practice Guidance

Nova Scotia Pharmacists Cut Tick-Bite ER Visits in Half, Dalhousie Study Finds

A Dalhousie University study of 1,019 emergency department encounters found that letting Nova Scotia pharmacists assess tick bites and prescribe preventive treatment for Lyme disease cut ER visits for tick bites roughly in half.

Sep 22, 2026 · 4 min read Read briefing

NIAID, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0) -- an engorged tick capable of transmitting Lyme disease; illustrative photo, not from Nova Scotia.

Medication Safety

Health Canada Recalls Three Organika Gummy Lots Over Unlisted Manufacturing Site

Health Canada posted a Type III recall covering one lot each of Organika Lion’s Mane, Reishi and Creatine gummies because a foreign manufacturing site was not listed on the company’s site licence. Community pharmacists and retailers should identify the specified lots, quarantine affected stock and follow recall instructions.

Sep 22, 2026 · 2 min read Read briefing

Photo: Supplements On Demand/Pexels — illustrative gummy-supplement image, not an affected Organika lot. Source: Image source · Pexels licence: Image source

New Approvals

Health Canada Approves Sandoz's Generic Semaglutide, a Third Ozempic Competitor

Sandoz has become the third company with Health Canada approval to sell generic semaglutide, but the product has no launch date -- and arrives while both existing generics, from Dr. Reddy's and Apotex, are in officially declared shortages.

Sep 22, 2026 · 3 min read Read briefing

Chemist4U, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0) -- a box of Ozempic (semaglutide) at a UK pharmacy; illustrative photo, not the Sandoz generic or Canadian packaging.

Medication Safety

Northwestern Ontario Health Unit Warns of New Nitazene Opioid After 60+ Poisonings in Two Days

Northwestern Health Unit has confirmed a newly detected synthetic opioid, clodesnitazene, in the region's unregulated drug supply after more than 60 poisonings in Kenora over two days -- pharmacists dispensing naloxone and test strips are on the front line of the response.

Sep 21, 2026 · 3 min read Read briefing

Coastal Elite, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0) -- a Halifax storefront naloxone-training sign (illustrative photo, not from Northwestern Ontario).

Practice Guidance

Cochrane Review: Exercise-Based Cardiac Rehabilitation Cuts Heart Attacks 28% and Hospital Admissions 35%

A new Cochrane review of 107 trials finds structured exercise after a cardiac event meaningfully lowers heart attack and hospitalization risk, and that home-based programs work as well as centre-based ones -- evidence pharmacists can use to encourage referral and adherence.

Sep 19, 2026 · 3 min read Read briefing

Hermes Ilarraza, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0) -- patients undergoing ergometric exercise as part of a cardiac rehabilitation program (illustrative photo).

New Approvals

Health Canada Authorizes XFG-Adapted COMIRNATY for the 2026-2027 COVID-19 Season

Health Canada has authorized an Omicron XFG-adapted Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for people 6 months and older, and pharmacies should plan to transition ordering and counselling to the updated formulation.

Sep 19, 2026 · 3 min read Read briefing

U.S. Department of Defense photo by Lisa Ferdinando, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0) -- illustrative photo of a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine vial, not the XFG-adapted formulation specifically.

Drug Shortages

Health Canada Designates Dacarbazine for Injection a Tier 3 Critical Shortage

Health Canada has added dacarbazine for injection, used in curative-intent regimens for Hodgkin lymphoma and metastatic melanoma, to its Tier 3 list of the most critical drug shortages -- a designation hospital oncology pharmacy teams should act on now.

Sep 19, 2026 · 2 min read Read briefing

Linda Bartlett / National Cancer Institute, via Wikimedia Commons (public domain) -- illustrative photo of a chemotherapy IV; not the affected product.

Regulatory Update

Nunavut Deschedules Naloxone and Allows Remote Pharmacist Supervision

Nunavut's Department of Health has made interim pharmacy-practice changes ahead of a full regulatory framework -- removing naloxone from the controlled substances list, permitting remote pharmacist supervision, and letting nurse practitioners prescribe -- to address chronic pharmacist-coverage gaps in the territory's three regional pharmacies.

Sep 14, 2026 · 2 min read Read briefing

Illustrative: a naloxone kit, not the Nunavut program specifically. Photo: James Heilman, MD, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NaloxoneKit.jpg)

Practice Guidance

Saskatchewan Expands Pharmacist-Led Strep Throat and Ear Infection Care to Over 100 Pharmacies

The Government of Saskatchewan has accepted all 55 pharmacies that applied to join its strep throat and ear infection assessment program, pushing the pharmacist-led service past 100 locations and building on a pilot that has delivered over 11,000 services since January 2025.

Sep 14, 2026 · 3 min read Read briefing

Illustrative photo: an otoscope ear examination (not from Saskatchewan). U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Christopher Toon, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Otoscope_exam.JPG)

Practice Guidance

Yukon Pharmacists Shoulder a Growing Share of the Territory's Primary Care

With a family-doctor shortage and long wait times, Yukon pharmacists say they're absorbing more day-to-day primary care -- and the territory's health minister says a further scope expansion is "actively" being considered.

Sep 14, 2026 · 3 min read Read briefing

Original editorial illustration created for this article.

Practice Guidance

PEI Hospital Pharmacy Technicians Frustrated by Year-Long Wait for Promised Wage Increase

PEI hospital pharmacy technicians say they are still waiting, nearly a year after a wage increase was promised, and about one in six technician positions is currently vacant -- a number the union expects to grow.

Sep 14, 2026 · 2 min read Read briefing

Original editorial illustration created for this article.