Medical Cannabis by Shoppers Drug Mart Inc.

What Medical Cannabis by Shoppers Drug Mart Inc. does

Medical Cannabis by Shoppers Drug Mart Inc. operates an online platform that enables Canadian patients with a valid medical document to purchase medical cannabis from more than 20 licensed cannabis brands through a single integrated storefront. The service is operated as a division of Shoppers Drug Mart Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Loblaw Companies Limited (TSX: L), and is supported by the Shoppers Cannabis Care team — a dedicated call center staffed by cannabis-trained pharmacists and advisors who provide counselling on product selection and therapeutic use. Distribution is digital-first via the cannabis.shoppersdrugmart.ca portal, augmented by same-day delivery in the Greater Toronto Area launched in June 2020, and the service is promoted through the parent company's corporate website and the in-store marketing footprint of Shoppers Drug Mart's 1,300+ pharmacist-owned locations across Canada.

The underlying platform integrates an e-commerce storefront with a medical document verification workflow that aggregates multiple licensed producers under one patient record, reducing the administrative friction inherent in Canada's medical cannabis framework. The unit does not operate standalone dispensaries; instead it leverages Shoppers Drug Mart's pharmacy distribution infrastructure, loyalty ecosystem (PC Optimum), and clinical support capabilities — including the Specialty Health Network and the PC Health virtual care app — to serve patients nationally. In March 2023, the platform entered a partnership with Avicanna to transition the Medical Cannabis by Shoppers service, signaling an ongoing strategic refresh rather than a static legacy offering.

Revenue is generated through product sales (transaction-based) on a B2C basis; specific pricing is not publicly disclosed and is determined at point of sale within provincial regulatory frameworks. Because the unit is fully consolidated within Loblaw's reported financials, no standalone revenue, headcount, or unit-economic data is disclosed, which constrains granular financial assessment. The customer base is composed of individual medical cannabis patients across Canada, and supplier-side diversification is structurally high given the 20+ brand integrations.

Name

Medical Cannabis by Shoppers Drug Mart Inc.

Legal name

Shoppers Drug Mart Inc.

Website

https://corporate.shoppersdrugmart.ca

Company type

Public

Founded year

1962

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Medical Cannabis by Shoppers is an online platform that gives Canadian patients access to products from 20+ licensed cannabis brands through one medical document, supported by a pharmacist-led Cannabis Care call center and same-day delivery in the GTA.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Medical Cannabis Pharmacy

NAICS

Pharmacies and Drug Retailers (45611), Pharmacies and Drug Retailers (456110), Local Messengers and Local Delivery (49221)

SIC

Retail-Drug Stores And Proprietary Stores (5912)

akta.pro primary industry

Cannabis Dispensary + Pharmacy/Clinical Model (Patient Services) (CRANAFAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Cannabis Online Ordering for Delivery (Marketplace/Aggregator) (CRANAGAD), Dispensary-Owned Online Ordering & Delivery (Direct-to-Consumer) (CRANAGAE)

Keywords

• Medical cannabis dispensing
• Online pharmacy services
• Cannabis e-commerce platform
• Patient counselling services
• Prescription cannabis delivery

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Medical Cannabis Sales: Dispensing medical cannabis products to patients through an integrated e-commerce platform. Patients access products from over 20 licensed cannabis brands through a single medical document.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Medical Cannabis by Shoppers operates an online platform that allows patients with a valid medical document to order medical cannabis products from more than 20 licensed Canadian cannabis brands through a single portal. The Shoppers Cannabis Care team, a dedicated call center staffed by cannabis-trained advisors and pharmacists, provides counselling and product guidance to patients. Same-day home delivery is available in the Greater Toronto Area, with provincial coverage spanning most of Canada outside Quebec.

Product overview

Medical Cannabis by Shoppers is an online platform and service offered by Shoppers Drug Mart that provides patients access to medical cannabis products from more than 20 licensed cannabis brands through a single site with one medical document. The service includes the Shoppers Cannabis Care team – a dedicated call center staffed by cannabis-trained advisors and pharmacists – which provides counselling and support for patients. The offering represents a unified e-commerce and patient support service rather than a modular product platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Life Brand: Private label brand created in 1962 offering over 2,000 products within health categories including over the counter medications, vitamins, first aid and oral care items.
• Quo Beauty
• SANIS
• MediSystem Pharmacy
• Specialty Health Network
• PC Health
• Shoppers Home Health Care
• Health Clinic by Shoppers
• BeautyBOUTIQUE
• Beauty Clinic by Shoppers
• Shoppers Foundation for Women's Health
• Shoppers LOVE YOU

Products and services

• Medical Cannabis by Shoppers Online Platform Online platform at cannabis.shoppersdrugmart.ca that lets Canadian patients with a valid medical document order medical cannabis from more than 20 licensed Canadian cannabis brands through a single portal, with onboarding, product browsing, and ordering.
• Shoppers Cannabis Care Team (Patient Counselling Service) A dedicated call center staffed by cannabis-trained advisors and pharmacists that provides counselling and support for patients navigating medical cannabis options, product selection, and dosing.
• Same-Day Medical Cannabis Delivery (GTA) Same-day home delivery of medical cannabis orders placed through the Medical Cannabis by Shoppers platform for patients in and around the Greater Toronto Area.

Quantifiable outcome

• Access to 20+ licensed cannabis brands from one platform
• +1 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• L'Oréal CanadaminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 4 June 2026L'Oréal Canada partnered with Shoppers Drug Mart for the fragrance refill fountain initiative at BeautyBOUTIQUE locations. For every refill purchased, L'Oréal Canada plants a tree in the Northwest Territories.
• AvicannacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 March 2023Shoppers Drug Mart partnered with Avicanna to transition Medical Cannabis by Shoppers. This partnership was announced in March 2023 and represents a strategic transition of the medical cannabis platform.
• Satya OrganicminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSatya Organic, an Indigenous-owned skincare brand focused on eczema and sensitive skin, is available in select Shoppers Drug Mart stores. The brand is part of Loblaw's Small Supplier Program designed to help reduce barriers for program members.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Emerging players

• Cannabis Clinics Canada (e.g., C3 Network, BC Pain Society): Canadian cannabis-focused medical clinics that issue medical documents and channel patients to specific LPs. They overlap with the upstream clinical-prescribing side of Shoppers' value proposition and compete for the same patient acquisition funnel.
• Avicanna: Biopharmaceutical-focused cannabis company that entered a 2023 transition partnership with Shoppers Drug Mart. It is directly comparable as a clinical/R&D-leaning cannabis partner with which Shoppers is aligning its medical platform strategy.

Broad incumbents

• Loblaw Companies Limited: The ultimate parent corporation of Medical Cannabis by Shoppers. Comparable as the conglomerate capital owner that determines strategic priorities, marketing investment, and integration across pharmacy, retail, and digital health.
• Shoppers Drug Mart (parent pharmacy retail network): The 1,300+ store Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacy network is the parent and primary distribution asset for Medical Cannabis by Shoppers; it provides the pharmacist-led counselling and patient pipeline that anchor the medical cannabis platform.
• Specialty Health Network: A wholly-owned Shoppers Drug Mart subsidiary providing specialty drug distribution and patient support programs. It is comparable as an adjacent Shoppers-owned clinical distribution channel that medical cannabis patients could be steered through.

Direct peers

• WeedMD (now part of INDIVA): WeedMD operated a medical cannabis patient platform with online ordering and direct delivery; its adult-use and medical assets now sit within INDIVA, representing another LP-direct competitor to Shoppers' medical platform.
• Aurora Cannabis (Medical): Aurora's medical division provides online ordering, patient support, and direct shipping of medical cannabis in Canada, competing head-to-head for registered patients alongside Shoppers' platform.
• Namaste Technologies: Namaste operates an online cannabis marketplace and patient platform (including CannMart) aggregating multiple LPs for medical and adult-use customers in Canada, mirroring Shoppers' multi-brand aggregator model.
• Canopy Growth (Spectrum Therapeutics): Canopy Growth operates Spectrum Therapeutics, a major Canadian medical cannabis patient platform with similar direct-to-patient e-commerce, counselling, and LP-direct delivery. It competes for the same medical-cannabis patient base in Canada.
• Tilray Medical: Tilray Medical operates a Canadian medical cannabis platform (originally Canna Farms) offering patient registration, LP-direct fulfilment, and pharmacist support, directly comparable to Medical Cannabis by Shoppers' aggregator-plus-counselling model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/shoppers_bloorbedford

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Medical Cannabis by Shoppers Drug Mart Inc.