The Prescription Drug List and peptides in Canada

The Prescription Drug List is Health Canada's list of medicinal ingredients that make a product a prescription drug. Many peptides and some larger protein medicines are on it by name, including semaglutide, tirzepatide and oxytocin. Many peptides sold online are not on it by name. That does not make them legal: Health Canada says peptides are generally regulated as prescription drugs, and it has seized several of them.

What the Prescription Drug List is

The list answers one question: is this ingredient a prescription drug under federal law?

The Prescription Drug List identifies which medications are prescription drugs at the federal level, under the Food and Drugs Act. Prescription drugs are subject to certain requirements in the Food and Drug Regulations.

Health Canada, Prescription Drug List, retrieved 4 October 2026.

The list works by ingredient, not by brand.

Without a qualifier indicating otherwise, any medication that contains a medicinal ingredient that is on the Prescription Drug List is considered a prescription drug.

Health Canada, Prescription Drug List, retrieved 4 October 2026.

How the Regulations define a prescription drug

The Food and Drug Regulations tie the legal meaning of "prescription drug" directly to the list. Note the second half: a drug can also be caught because it belongs to a class of drugs on the list, not only because its own name appears.

prescription drug means a drug that is set out in the Prescription Drug List, as amended from time to time, or a drug that is part of a class of drugs that is set out in it;

Food and Drug Regulations (C.R.C., c. 870), section A.01.010, retrieved 4 October 2026.

"As amended from time to time" matters too. The list changes, so a check made last year may be out of date.

Peptides on the list by name

These peptide and related protein entries appear on the list with no qualifier. Names and dates are copied exactly as the list's row text read on 4 October 2026.

Name as listed	Date on the list
Semaglutide	2018-03-12
Tirzepatide	2023-03-08
Liraglutide or its salts	2013-12-20
Tesamorelin or its salts or derivatives	2014-04-25
Sermorelin or its salts	2013-12-19
Oxytocin	2013-12-19
Somatropin	2013-12-19
Setmelanotide or its salts	2023-06-23
Afamelanotide or its salts	2026-08-27
Teriparatide or its salts	2013-12-19
Mecasermin	2021-05-27
Octreotide	2013-12-19
Exenatide or its salts	2013-12-20
Dulaglutide	2016-01-08

Words such as "or its salts" are part of the entry, so those forms are covered too. Afamelanotide is the newest entry here, dated August 2026.

Peptides that are not on the list by name

When we searched the list on 4 October 2026, these names did not appear as entries: BPC-157, TB-500, CJC-1295, ipamorelin, retatrutide, melanotan, PT-141, epitalon, GHK-Cu, selank, semax, kisspeptin, DSIP, MOTS-c, AOD-9604, hexarelin and NAD+.

It is easy to read too much into that. Not being on the list by name only means the list does not name it. It does not mean the product is allowed to be sold, and it does not mean Health Canada has assessed it. A product sold in Canada as a drug still has to meet the rest of the Food and Drugs Act and its Regulations, and a product that has never been authorized is not authorized just because a list leaves it out. Health Canada's own position on peptides is broad.

In Canada, peptides are generally regulated as prescription drugs.

Health Canada public advisory, 9 Apr 2026, retrieved 4 October 2026.

Health Canada has also acted on enforcement.

Health Canada has seized several unauthorized injectable peptide drugs and is working with the Canada Border Services Agency to stop unauthorized shipments from entering the country.

Health Canada public advisory, 9 Apr 2026, retrieved 4 October 2026.

The examples of seized products named in that advisory include BPC-157, CJC-1295, Ipamorelin, TB-500 and Retatrutide.

A "research use" label does not change this either.

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, retrieved 4 October 2026.

What being on the list means for selling

Once an ingredient is on the list, the rules on who may sell it are strict.

A main requirement for prescription drugs is that they can only be sold to the public by pharmacists, veterinarians or commercial feed mills, based on a prescription from a practitioner.

Health Canada, Prescription Drug List, retrieved 4 October 2026.

The Regulations set this out in two sections. The first says who may sell a prescription drug at all.

C.01.041 (1) No person shall sell a prescription drug unless (a) they are entitled under the laws of a province to dispense a prescription drug and they sell it in that province under a verbal or written prescription that they received; or (b) they sell it under section C.01.043.

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

The second names who a prescription drug may be sold to without a prescription.

C.01.043 (1) A person may sell a prescription drug to (a) a drug manufacturer; (b) a practitioner; (c) a wholesale druggist; (d) a pharmacist; or (e) the Government of Canada or the government of a province...

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

Neither section allows a sale to a member of the public without a prescription.

How to check the list yourself

The list is public and free to search. Open the Prescription Drug List search and search for the ingredient name. Read the full entry, including words such as "or its salts" and any qualifier, and note the date you checked, because the list is amended over time.

What this means for you

The Prescription Drug List tells you which ingredients are prescription drugs by name. If a peptide is on it, it may be sold to the public only by someone allowed to dispense it, such as a pharmacist, on a prescription. If a peptide is not on it, that is not a green light: Health Canada says peptides are generally regulated as prescription drugs, it has seized peptide products that are not on the list by name, and a research-use label does not make a product legal. To see whether a specific drug product is authorized for sale, read our page on checking a Drug Identification Number (DIN).

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