Our Impact
Making Patient Care Affordable in Pharmacies, Hospitals and Clinics
Across the country in our pharmacies, hospitals and clinics generic medicines are dispensed to fill 79.8% of all prescriptions in Canada and only cost 23.1% of the money we spend annually on prescription medicines.
Some of the most prescribed generic medicines are priced at a 90% discount off the price of the brand-name drug. That means we can treat up to 10 patients for the cost of treating one patient with the brand-name version. Every day in Canada, an average of 1.71 million prescriptions are dispensed using generic medicines.
Impact
Contribution to our Provincial Healthcare Systems
British Columbia
77.2%
Total prescriptions
24.7%
Total cost
Alberta
78.6%
Total prescriptions
22.7%
Total cost
Saskatchewan
80.2%
Total prescriptions
25.0%
Total cost
Manitoba
81.7%
Total prescriptions
24.2%
Total cost
Ontario
78.7%
Total prescriptions
21.1%
Total cost
Québec
81.4%
Total prescriptions
25.5%
Total cost
New Brunswick
80.5%
Total prescriptions
23.3%
Total cost
Nova Scotia
81.1%
Total prescriptions
23.2%
Total cost
Prince Edward Island
80.4%
Total prescriptions
24.8%
Total cost
Newfoundland / Labrador
80.4%
Total prescriptions
24.8%
Total cost
Savings from 1% Increase in Use of Generics*
Province | Private sector | Public sector | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
British Columbia | $ 27.9 | $ 15.6 | $ 43.5 |
Alberta | $ 35.6 | $ 26.1 | $ 61.7 |
Saskatchewan | $ 7.7 | $ 7.3 | $ 15.0 |
Manitoba | $ 7.0 | $ 8.4 | $ 15.4 |
Ontario | $ 160.7 | $ 122.8 | $ 283.5 |
Quebec | $ 72.8 | $ 49.5 | $ 122.3 |
New Brunswick | $ 13.7 | $ 6.6 | $ 20.3 |
Nova Scotia | $ 13.8 | $ 7.2 | $ 21.0 |
PEI / NFLD | $ 9.5 | $ 5.4 | $ 14.9 |
Canada | $ 349.0 | $ 249.1 | $ 598.1 |
* millions of dollars |
Source : IQVIA, 12 months ending December 2025
1% Savings Source: IQVIA data and CIHI public and private 12-months ending December 2025