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Buyer's guide

Narcotic reconciliation software in Canada: a buyer's guide

NAPRA counts 10,152 licensed community pharmacies in Canada, and every one of them reconciles its narcotics and controlled substances against a physical count on a schedule its college sets. This guide lists the purpose-built tools we know of, describes each from its own published page, and gives you the questions to put to any vendor. NarcCount is our product and is listed first; the rest are described, not ranked.

Every claim about another product was re-checked against its source on this date.

Six questions to ask any vendor

The longer version is in controlled substance tracking software for Canadian pharmacies.

  1. Does it derive the expected balance, or ask you to type it?

    The whole value of software over a sheet is that expected on-hand is calculated from your purchase, dispensing and destruction records. If a person types the opening number, a variance can be a transcription error before it is anything else.

  2. Can you open a variance to the transactions behind it?

    Reconstructing why a number is off is the slow part of every count. Ask to see, on a demo, the receipts and dispenses inside a count window for one drug.

  3. Does the record show who signed a count off?

    Ask whether a count's record shows who counted it, who signed it off and when, and whether its numbers are locked once it is signed.

  4. Is there an audit log you cannot edit?

    An inspector's question about a count from last year is answered by history. Ask whether edits, back-dated entries and deletions are recorded, and whether anybody can remove that record.

  5. Where is your data, and can you take it out?

    Ask which country the database is in, and whether you can export every count and transaction as CSV without asking the vendor.

  6. Does it use DIN, and does it know your province's cadence?

    A tool built for the American market keys on NDC and a biennial inventory. A Canadian pharmacy needs DIN and its own college's reconciliation interval.

The tools

NarcCount

Our productMississauga, Ontario

This is our product. Built by a pharmacist and used in a working Ontario pharmacy first.

  • Works out expected on-hand per drug from your own records.
  • Shows the variance, with drill-through to the transactions.
  • Records who counted and signed off each count, and locks it once it is finalised.
  • Keeps an append-only, hash-chained audit log of edits, deletions and sign-offs.
  • Imports history as CSV and stores data in Canada.
  • Priced per pharmacy, monthly or annually, on the pricing page.
What NarcCount does →

iApotheca Narcotics Reconciliation Module

iApotheca Healthcare's reconciliation module. Its page lists smart notifications of which narcotics are due to be reconciled, discrepancy investigation features, complete on-demand spot checks of past reconciliations, short cyclical weekly counts, and a final report. Its page does not state a price; ask the vendor.

Source: iApotheca narcotics reconciliation page, checked 2026-10-25

Nodens Health NarCon

Ottawa, Ontario

Nodens Health's NarCon. Its page lists narcotic counts and reconciliations that integrate automatically with the pharmacy management system, dividing the inventory to count a few molecules every week, investigating discrepancies by suggesting possible reasons, and paperless records saved on the cloud. Reminders and reporting discrepancies to Health Canada are marked on its page as coming soon.

Source: Nodens Health NarCon narcotic reconciliation page, checked 2026-10-25

Paper sheets and free templates

Not software, and for a low-volume pharmacy still a reasonable choice. A signed, complete count sheet kept for the required period is a valid record.

  • We give away printable count sheets, a perpetual log and a spreadsheet whose balance calculates itself.
  • Plus CSV templates and export guides for Kroll, PharmaClik, Fillware, WinRx, McKesson, Kohl & Frisch and Imperial.
  • The limit is reconstructing a variance by hand once volume grows.
Free sheets, templates and export guides →

Questions

Which narcotic reconciliation software is best for a Canadian pharmacy?

It depends on which job you are solving and how many transactions you have.

  • Put the six questions above to any vendor.
  • Ask for a demo on one of your own drugs.
  • Check that your data is in Canada and exportable.
  • We make NarcCount and we think it answers all six well. The other tools here are described from their own pages, so you can ask them the same questions.
Is there free narcotic reconciliation software?

There are free templates, and we give away a full set: a perpetual log, a shift-change count sheet, a physical count sheet, a periodic inventory form and a spreadsheet that calculates the running balance. Purpose-built software is a paid subscription from every vendor we know of.

Why is NarcCount listed first?

Because it is ours, and this page says so. Every other entry is taken from that vendor's own public page on the date shown at the top, with the page linked, and no entry is ranked against another.

How often does a pharmacy have to reconcile narcotics?

The Ontario College of Pharmacists expects narcotics and controlled substances to be reconciled at least every six months, at minimum twice a year. Other provinces set their own interval; check your own college's standard.

Try NarcCountSee pricing

Sources

Show the 3 sources

Primary sources for the figures on this page. Regulations change; confirm the current requirement with the source before you rely on it.

NarcCount is our product; every other product on this page is described from its vendor's own public page on the date shown, and nothing here is a ranking. iApotheca and NarCon are trademarks of their respective owners; NarcCount is an independent product and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of them.

NarcCount assists with reconciliation; it does not replace your dispensing system, the Ontario Narcotics Monitoring System (NMS), or your professional and regulatory obligations.

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