DIN, NPN and how to check a product in Canada

A DIN, or Drug Identification Number, is the eight-digit number Health Canada gives a drug once it is authorized for sale. A manufacturer may not sell a drug in its finished form in Canada without one. You can check a number, or a product name, by searching Health Canada's Drug Product Database.

What a DIN is, and the other numbers you may see

Health Canada uses a small set of eight-digit numbers to show that a health product has been authorized. A DIN is the one for drugs.

Authorized health products have an eight-digit Drug Identification Number (DIN), Natural Product Number (NPN) or Homeopathic Drug Number (DIN-HM).

Health Canada advisory, 14 Apr 2025, retrieved 4 October 2026.

In its 2026 advisory about peptides bought online, Health Canada points people straight to the label and to its own database:

Check the label before you buy. Authorized prescription drugs in Canada have an eight-digit Drug Identification Number (DIN). You can also check whether a drug has been authorized for sale by searching Health Canada's Drug Product Database.

Health Canada public advisory, 9 Apr 2026: "Think twice before injecting peptides bought online: unauthorized products can seriously harm you", retrieved 4 October 2026.

The rule: no DIN, no sale

The DIN is not a nice extra. It comes from the Food and Drug Regulations, which say a manufacturer may not sell a drug in its finished form, such as a tablet, capsule or vial, unless a number has been assigned to it and that number is still in force.

C.01.014 (1) No manufacturer shall sell a drug in dosage form unless a drug identification number has been assigned for that drug and the assignment of the number has not been cancelled under section C.01.014.6.

Food and Drug Regulations (C.R.C., c. 870), retrieved 4 October 2026.

The number must belong to that specific drug, and it can be cancelled. That is why it is worth checking the database rather than trusting a number printed on a label.

The Drug Product Database: what it holds

Health Canada keeps a public, searchable list of the drugs it has authorized. It is called the Drug Product Database, or DPD. Health Canada describes its purpose in these words:

Search the Drug Product Database (DPD) to find drugs authorized for sale by Health Canada.

Health Canada: Drug Product Database, retrieved 4 October 2026.

You can reach it here: Health Canada's Drug Product Database.

Why an NPN does not apply here

Some people wonder whether a peptide could carry an NPN instead. For what Health Canada's 14 April 2025 advisory calls “injectable peptides”, the Natural Health Products Regulations close that door.

The Regulations say that if a substance must be sold on a prescription under the drug rules, it is not a natural health product at all:

For the purposes of these Regulations, a substance or combination of substances or a traditional medicine is not considered to be a natural health product if its sale, under the Food and Drug Regulations, is required to be pursuant to a prescription when it is sold other than in accordance with section C.01.043 of those Regulations.

Natural Health Products Regulations (SOR/2003-196), s. 2(2), retrieved 4 October 2026.

Health Canada has said how it sees peptides:

Peptide drugs affect the body’s functions and injectable peptides are regulated as prescription drugs in Canada.

Health Canada advisory, 14 Apr 2025, retrieved 4 October 2026.

The Regulations also contain a Schedule 2. Item 5 on it reads:

5 A substance that is administered by puncturing the dermis

Natural Health Products Regulations (SOR/2003-196), Schedule 2, retrieved 4 October 2026.

"Puncturing the dermis" means going through the skin. Taken together with section 2(2) and Health Canada's position above, the number that applies to what that advisory calls “injectable peptides” is a DIN, not an NPN.

What "no DIN" means in plain words

If a drug product has no DIN, or its number does not show up in the database, the database does not show it as authorized for sale. Health Canada is direct about what an unauthorized product means:

Unauthorized drug products are illegal in Canada and have not been assessed for safety, efficacy, and quality by Health Canada. They have not been demonstrated, through scientific trials, to provide the health benefits that they claim.

Health Canada public advisory, 9 Apr 2026: "Think twice before injecting peptides bought online: unauthorized products can seriously harm you", retrieved 4 October 2026.

A "research use only" line on the label does not change this. Health Canada says so in the same advisory:

Health Canada continues to identify products marketed as “For Research Use Only – Not for Human Consumption.” This type of labelling does not make these products legal or exempt from regulatory requirements. Canadians are advised not to buy or use products labelled in this way.

Health Canada public advisory, 9 Apr 2026: "Think twice before injecting peptides bought online: unauthorized products can seriously harm you", retrieved 4 October 2026.

How to look a product up

1. Open Health Canada's Drug Product Database at the link above.
2. Look on the product's label for an eight-digit number marked DIN.
3. Type the product's name, or that number, into the search.
4. Check whether that same number appears in the database for that same product.
5. If you cannot find the product, or the number does not match, the database does not show it as a drug authorized for sale by Health Canada.

What this means for you

A DIN is the plainest sign that Health Canada has authorized a drug for sale. For what Health Canada calls “injectable peptides”, the natural health product route is closed, so the DIN is the number that counts. To check, search the Drug Product Database and match the eight-digit number. For the wider picture, see our page on the rules.

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