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Provincial and NIHB Formulary Publishing Dates

Single-Source Drug Products | Interchangeable Products

Listing Process Summary Table for Single-Source Drug Products
Region	Formulary Name	Review by Independent Committee[i]	Formulary Publishing Dates, Updates and Deadlines
			Winter Issue	Spring Issue	Summer Issue	Fall Issue
BC	PharmaCare does not have an established benefit list of products eligible for coverage and instead has a dynamic formulary (PharmaNet)[ii]	PharmaCare Drug Benefit Committee	PharmaCare routinely publishes newsletters, which amend the list of products that are fully paid benefits under the Low Cost Alternative/Reference Drug Program.
			SD: Submissions are reviewed in order of receipt.
AB	Alberta Health & Wellness Drug Benefit List Alberta Employment, Immigration and Industry Drug Benefit Supplement Palliative Care Drug Benefit Supplement	Alberta Health and Wellness Expert Committee on Drug Evaluation and Therapeutics	Jan. 1, 2011 F	March 1, 2011 U	Sept. 1, 2010 U	Nov. 1, 2010 U
			SD: Oct. 15, 2010, 4:30 pm Alberta time	SD: Dec. 15, 2010, 4:30 pm Alberta time	SD: June 15, 2010, 4:30 pm Alberta time	SD: Aug. 13, 2010, 4:30 pm Alberta time
SK	Saskatchewan Formulary	Saskatchewan Formulary Committee Saskatchewan Drug Quality Assessment Committee	Jan. 2011 U	April 2011 U	July 2011 U	Oct. 2011 U
			SD: Submissions are reviewed in order of receipt.
MB	Manitoba Drug Benefits List & Interchangeability Formulary	Manitoba Drug Standards and Therapeutics Committee	Updates available every 3 to 4 months via newsletter.
			SD: Submissions are reviewed in order of receipt. Updates are published as required.
ON	Ontario Drug Benefit Formulary/ Comparative Drug Index	Committee to Evaluate Drugs	Monthly formulary updates planned
			SD for 2011, before 3:30 pm: Jan. 5, Feb. 2, Mar. 2, Apr. 6, May 4, June 1, July 6, Aug. 3, Sept. 7, Oct. 5, Nov. 2, Dec. 7
QC	Liste de médicaments	Le Conseil du médicament	Feb. 1, 2011 U	June 1, 2012 U		Oct. 3, 2011 U
			SD: Aug. 13, 2010	SD: Dec. 3, 2010		SD: April 1, 2011
NB	New Brunswick Prescription Drug Program Formulary	Atlantic Expert Advisory Committee	Updates are published as required.
			SD: Submissions are reviewed in order of receipt.
NS	Nova Scotia Formulary	Atlantic Expert Advisory Committee Formulary Management Committee	Pharmacare routinely publishes bulletins.
			SD: Submissions are reviewed in order of receipt. Updates are published as required.
PEI	PEI Drug Programs Formulary	Atlantic Expert Advisory Committee	Updates are published as required
			SD: Submissions are reviewed in order of receipt.
NL	NLPDP Benefit Listing	Atlantic Expert Advisory Committee Professional Committee	Drug Benefit List Updates are published quarterly (Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall)
			SD: Submissions are reviewed in order of receipt.
NIHB	NIHB Drug Benefit List	Federal Pharmacy & Therapeutics Committee	Drug Benefit List Updates are published quarterly (Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall)
			SD: Submissions are reviewed in order of receipt.

Legend: U: Update only; F: Complete formulary; SD: Submission deadlines

[i] All provinces require that drugs considered for benefit approval must first be licensed for sale in Canada by the Health Protection Branch of Health Canada

[ii] Apart from an exception list, PharmaCare covers all products, although not all are fully paid benefits under the Low Cost Alternative (LCA) Program and Reference Drug Program (RDP). New products added to the LCA/RDP Booklet are published routinely in the BC PharmaCare newsletters.