Bringing medications from USA into Canada

[clplunke]

We are flying from the US to Vancouver to board a Celebrity cruise to Alaska.  From what I've read online Canada requires medication to be in the original package or you have to have the label with it.  Does anyone know if a picture or photocopy of the label would be ok?  I have some really large bottles that I'd rather not have to make room for.

[GeezerCouple]

There are many discussions about this on this subsection of CC:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/114-disabled-cruise-travel/

 

I'll try to find one of my posts, with detail about how we handle this for *all* international travel, much of which is to countries with stronger "issues".

There is a wide variety of opinions about how careful one should be.  Our feeling is that when crossing international borders, "better safe than sorry", and a bit of prep for one trip is what we then keep handy for other trips, so it's rather easy.

(I don't know if you can search to find some of the other discussions; the CC search function isn't always particularly user friendly...)

 

GC

[Mom the Traveller]

20 minutes ago, clplunke said:

We are flying from the US to Vancouver to board a Celebrity cruise to Alaska.  From what I've read online Canada requires medication to be in the original package or you have to have the label with it.  Does anyone know if a picture or photocopy of the label would be ok?  I have some really large bottles that I'd rather not have to make room for.

I suggest you ask the Canada Border Services Agency https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/menu-eng.html.  They'll give you the rules and answer all your questions.  Cannabis is an absolute no-no.

[LHT28]

Can your pharmacy just give you a printed label  with the information on?

[StollyBolly]

I travel with my meds in one of those weekly pill dispensers.  So does my husband.  Never been an issue anywhere, including Canada.    Maybe we’ve just been lucky.  

Edited June 5, 2023 by StollyBolly

[jsn55]

I've read these warnings about 'medications' my whole travel life.  I have always dumped everything into a bottle, one for AM, one for PM and put it in my carryon.  When we went to China I considered being more 'formal', but never did it.  Nobody has ever once questioned me, much less looked to see if I had a bunch of 'original bottles'.  I take two Rx, the rest is vitamins, supplements, Aleve and sleeping pills.  I generally use an empty bottle from vitamins/supplements to put everything in.  I really don't know who is checking what ... and perhaps none of the authorities know either.  I travel far too often to dork around with Rx labels and separate containers.  Hopefully my next post will not be coming from my jail cell.  

[martincath]

Canada does not require original bottles - technically we demand original labels attached to the container the pills are in! So you could carefully peel off labels, or simply ask the pharmacy to print extras to stick onto your smaller containers, or if you have any renewals to do before cruising try asking the pharmacy to simply split the supply into more than one bottle - even on a one week cruise undoubtedly you'll be bringing some extra supplies just in case...? Unless they have literally run out of the right size of pill bottle I've never had a problem getting smaller ones - indeed, often they run out of the bigger bottles so I get my meds split in two without even having to ask!

 

If you travel at all often though, and your pharmacy is not set up to make custom blisterpacks of multiple meds split into times/days to take them, consider changing to a service that does - e.g. Pillpack specializes in exactly this for no extra charge over regular Co-pays by mail order (they even include non-prescription pills that you regularly take, and with Amazons buying power behind them now those probably work out pretty cheap), but I expect most if not all US chains can do it for in-person collection too (I've seen this service offered at Costco, CVS, and even Walmart pharmacies in the US). Then you can easily bring original containers, with labels, exactly as they arrive from the pharmacy - that only cover the timeframe you need when you're away.

 

US folks coming to visit us aren't generally an issue for prescription medication smuggling - virtually everything is cheaper up here so it's in the other direction that the border gets snoopier! As long as your meds are legal here - we do have some differences in pharmaceutical codes, just as we have different criminal codes that cause problems for folks with DUIs - and you can prove you were prescribed them if asked you should be fine regardless of original labels or not... but personally I'd never recommend a course of action that's non-compliant with what any border control agency says you should do 😉

[clplunke]

2 hours ago, LHT28 said:

Can your pharmacy just give you a printed label  with the information on?

I'll contact them to see if they will do it.  Thanks.

[clplunke]

13 minutes ago, martincath said:

Canada does not require original bottles - technically we demand original labels attached to the container the pills are in! So you could carefully peel off labels, or simply ask the pharmacy to print extras to stick onto your smaller containers, or if you have any renewals to do before cruising try asking the pharmacy to simply split the supply into more than one bottle - even on a one week cruise undoubtedly you'll be bringing some extra supplies just in case...? Unless they have literally run out of the right size of pill bottle I've never had a problem getting smaller ones - indeed, often they run out of the bigger bottles so I get my meds split in two without even having to ask!

 

If you travel at all often though, and your pharmacy is not set up to make custom blisterpacks of multiple meds split into times/days to take them, consider changing to a service that does - e.g. Pillpack specializes in exactly this for no extra charge over regular Co-pays by mail order (they even include non-prescription pills that you regularly take, and with Amazons buying power behind them now those probably work out pretty cheap), but I expect most if not all US chains can do it for in-person collection too (I've seen this service offered at Costco, CVS, and even Walmart pharmacies in the US). Then you can easily bring original containers, with labels, exactly as they arrive from the pharmacy - that only cover the timeframe you need when you're away.

 

US folks coming to visit us aren't generally an issue for prescription medication smuggling - virtually everything is cheaper up here so it's in the other direction that the border gets snoopier! As long as your meds are legal here - we do have some differences in pharmaceutical codes, just as we have different criminal codes that cause problems for folks with DUIs - and you can prove you were prescribed them if asked you should be fine regardless of original labels or not... but personally I'd never recommend a course of action that's non-compliant with what any border control agency says you should do 😉

Thanks for the detailed response.  I'll see if the pharmacy will give me the labels, and if not I'll see if I can peel them off to stick on a bag.

[GeezerCouple]

What we do is ask the pharmacist for an extra label for every med, and we ask about 2-3 weeks  before we actually need them.  Then we get tiny ziploc-style baggies, slap a label on each one, and count out however many pills/tablets/etc., we'll be taking.  (We always take an extra week, or two if it's a longer trip.  That's in case of any serious delay getting home, for any of a variety of possible reasons.)

We also have printed copies of the original scripts and a letter from the physician for any controlled substance or injectable, stating it is required for medical reasons.  And we also have copies on our laptops, and thus in the cloud as backup.  We only change all of this, including the little baggies, every few years for meds that stay the same, so it's not at all burdensome once we've got it all in place the first time.

 

These little ziplocs can have most of the air just pressed out as one closes each, and then they lie nice and flat and take up very little space.

[About the small Rx bottles?  Our pharmacies here have discontinued the smallest size bottles, and *always* dispense in large/medium or jumbo size.  It's crazy.  Often a 90 day supply of small pills won't even get to 1/4 of the height - and the rest is all wasted.  For occasional tiny pills, or a smaller quantity, they barely cover the bottom of the container! And the containers are round, so there's lots of wasted space between them.]

 

We keep this "stuff" in a little travel pouch just about all the time, ready to go, and just fill up the little ziplocs when needed.

 

We also ALWAYS double check the drug laws of foreign countries.  (It's not obvious.  For example, Japan absolutely FORBIDS any quantity of original formulation Sudafed. NO exceptions, full stop.There's a newer formulation that is allowed.)

We do Google searches to find the official governmental website pages for bringing meds into the country (not for commercial purposes; that's different).

 

Anyway, unless we have a new Rx, we are just about always ready to go.  To make up these little bags/labels and copies/etc., each time would be.... annoying, to say the least! 😠

 

And nope, we've never been "inspected", but that might be because of our appearance and age (?).  A few times when we've been asked about what we are bringing, I'll mention "Yes, some prescription medicine", and reach for the little pouch.  By the time I have my hand on it, we are typically given a smile and waved away (or waved away without the smile).

Usually, there aren't any questions at all.

 

Because of what we do carry with us, we don't want to be found to *not* have the proper documentation, especially in *some* countries!

One "unpleasant" experience is more than we want...

 

GC

[capriccio]

I second @GeezerCouple's recommendations.  More than a decade ago I had the annoying distinction of being one of those people who does have a 7 day pill container questioned.  At Frankfurt airport I was told to take out my pill container which was almost at the bottom of my purse.  Then I was told to open it which I did.  The look on the face of the security officer was priceless as all she saw were different pairs of earrings.  She muttered a 'go on'.

 

We just completed a 6 week vacation (including a 4 week cruise) in Australia and New Zealand.  That meant more meds than our usual 2 week cruise plus both countries ask about prescription meds on the official arrival forms.  Posters on the Australia and New Zealand Cruisers board recommended being thorough so we were and will keep doing so since it has two immediate benefits:  1) meds take up hardly any space and weigh almost nothing and 2) we each have a current list of meds including dosages if needed to share with medical staff.

 

Almost all of our prescriptions are delivered from Express Scripts in absurdly large containers.  We purchased travel pill bags from Amazon (https://a.co/d/gk8UV9T).  Since we didn't have additional detailed stick on labels, I just cut the prescription info (patient, med, dosage, doctor, etc.) that is on the accompanying informational paperwork and taped it to the back of each bag.  Finally I ran off a list of all Express Scripts prescriptions delivered within the last 6 months.  Each of us put the travel baggies and the list into a quart sized zip lock bag and we were good to go.

 

We leave in less than a month on our next cruise.  It is only 7 days but I already have the baggies ready to go with the 'extras' we brought for the Australia/New Zealand vacation.  Always bring 'extras'.  A friend of mine and his wife were visiting his son stationed on Okinawa on September 11, 2001.  They were 'stuck' there for over 10 days before they could get a flight back to the US and ran out of some prescription meds.  The base pharmacy helped them out but that was pure luck.

[lenquixote66]

I found from personal experience that it can sometime depend on physical appearance.

[boltnut55]

15 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

I found from personal experience that it can sometime depend on physical appearance.

When my husband was in his 20s & 30s (Asian male, longer hair, skinny, eyeglasses that tint in the sun), he'd get searched and questioned at every border/customs.  He's now almost 60, short white hair, beer belly... nary a problem anymore😁  I should remind him of that.

[boltnut55]

OK... both DH and I use those weekly pill box things... and will also be flying to Vancouver to board an Alaskan cruise.  Now that I know, I guess I better be prepared just in case!

[lenquixote66]

7 hours ago, boltnut55 said:

When my husband was in his 20s & 30s (Asian male, longer hair, skinny, eyeglasses that tint in the sun), he'd get searched and questioned at every border/customs.  He's now almost 60, short white hair, beer belly... nary a problem anymore😁  I should remind him of that.

When I was in my 20’s and 30’s I had shoulder length hair and a very long beard.I was always searched at border crossings.One time they found white powder in a plastic bag and drew their guns.I told them that it was coffee lightener.They did not believe me and I told them to taste it.They reluctantly did so ,found that it was what I said it was and did not apologize.

Currently I have short white hair and a short white beard and weigh a lot more than I did in my younger days.No problem .

[boltnut55]

3 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

One time they found white powder in a plastic bag and drew their guns.I told them that it was coffee lightener.They did not believe me and I told them to taste it.They reluctantly dido ,found that it was what I said it was and did not apologize.

 

Laughing at the similarities of no problem but drawing guns is a little scary!  Seems a little extreme!  When I bring laundry detergent in a zip loc bag, I always write detergent on it... figure maybe they won't believe me, but at least it'll make them consider it as an option.

[lenquixote66]

Just now, boltnut55 said:

Laughing at the similarities of no problem but drawing guns is a little scary!  Seems a little extreme!  When I bring laundry detergent in a zip loc bag, I always write detergent on it... figure maybe they won't believe me, but at least it'll make them consider it as an option.

My experience was crossing the border into the US from Canada.

[mom says]

No surprise there. When in doubt, pull a gun, don't bother asking questions. /s