HIV & sexual health
PrEP, from the pharmacy side
The prescribing happens with a clinician. Everything after that — coverage, refills, privacy, and not running out — is what a pharmacy is for.
What a pharmacy can and cannot do here
A pharmacist in Ontario cannot prescribe PrEP. It is not on the minor ailments list, and no amount of wanting to changes that — you need a physician or nurse practitioner.
We say that plainly because some pharmacy marketing implies otherwise, and finding out at the counter that the visit you booked cannot do the thing you came for is a genuinely bad experience.
What a pharmacy does do is substantial, and it is where most PrEP journeys actually fail: the coverage application nobody filled in, the refill that came three days late, the reassessment that quietly lapsed, the plan statement someone else opened.
What we intend to handle
- Working out which program covers you, and filling in the application with you
- Refills timed to arrive before you run out, not after
- Keeping track of when your follow-up bloodwork is due, and reminding you
- Checking your prescription against everything else you take
- Discreet packaging, and delivery that discloses nothing on the outside
- A private area for questions you would rather not ask at a counter
- Telling you what something costs before you commit to it
- Continuity if you transfer in from another pharmacy
Cost
For most people in Ontario, PrEP is covered. OHIP+ covers people 24 and under without private drug coverage; the Ontario Drug Benefit covers people 65+ and people on Ontario Works or ODSP; and the Trillium Drug Program covers households whose drug costs are high relative to income. Many private plans cover it too.
A generic version exists and costs substantially less than the number most people have in their head. If you have assumed you cannot afford PrEP, that assumption is worth testing before you act on it.
Why there is no price here
Ontario’s rules on advertising prescription drug prices mean that publishing one price obliges you to publish prices for at least fifteen drugs across ten classifications at equal prominence. So we answer the question when you ask it, rather than putting a misleading half-answer on a web page.
Coverage and costs goes through the programs in detail.
Privacy
Nothing on the outside of a package will say what is inside it. The name on this pharmacy is deliberately non-descriptive, so a bag, a card statement or a text message discloses nothing about why you are a customer.
The one thing a pharmacy genuinely cannot control is a private insurance plan’s own paperwork, which a plan holder may be able to see. If you are on a family member’s plan and that matters, say so — there is sometimes a route that does not involve that plan at all, and it is much easier to arrange before the first claim than after.
Common questions
Can I get PrEP without seeing a doctor?
No. A prescription is required and a pharmacist cannot write it. If you do not have a prescriber, the clinic upstairs will see people without a referral — and so will several other services in this neighbourhood. Kind Clinic and Kind Pharmacy are separate businesses under common ownership. You can fill your prescription anywhere.
Can you do my three-month bloodwork?
No. HIV and STI testing is not within what Ontario pharmacists may do — pharmacist point-of-care testing here is limited to a short list of chronic-disease markers. Testing happens at a clinic or a lab; we will help you keep track of when it is due.
What if I miss doses or stop?
Tell your prescriber, and tell us. Stopping and restarting is common and is not a problem — but restarting properly involves a test first, and that is the part worth not skipping.
Do you deliver?
That is the intention, in plain packaging. Details will be published here before we open rather than promised now.
Kind Clinic on the second floor does the prescribing, the baseline bloodwork, and the three-month follow-up — no referral needed. Kind Clinic and Kind Pharmacy are separate businesses under common ownership. You can fill your prescription anywhere.
Kind Clinic →