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A massive social experiment is underway in this country. Novo Nordisk’s patent on semaglutide—the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy—expired in January, clearing the way for Canada to become a testing ground for generic versions. (In the U.S., the same patents won’t be up until 2032.) There are six drug manufacturers waiting on Health Canada’s approval, and at least some of them are expected to get it by summer or early fall. In December the American telehealth company Hims & Hers purchased the Montreal startup Livewell to get a foothold in the coming gold rush. Shoppers Drug Mart recently launched a virtual-care service to prescribe and dispense GLP-1s. “Our prediction would be, even though it’s going to be significantly cheaper, that we will sell more,” said Loblaw CEO Per Bank. It’s a safe bet.
At the end of 2025, some 1.5 million Canadians were on a GLP-1 medication. By the end of March it was three million—that’s about nine per cent of Canadian adults. And this is before the generics boom. Before pills and social acceptance and ever-expanding digital distribution that makes access only slightly more cumbersome than calling an Uber. GLP-1s are a health innovation on track to win a Nobel Prize. But in 2026, they’re also a passport to the land of conventional hotness. And who doesn’t want to live there?
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