The Narcotic Count Book
A Canadian pharmacy guide to controlled substance counts, reconciliation and compliance, with a perpetual inventory logbook.
Every rule behind a narcotic count, in plain language. The federal regulation, your province’s count rule, the running balance, finding the cause of a difference and the 10-day loss report. Every rule names its source.
- 18 chapters
- 5 appendices
- 222 pages in print
- 13 provinces and territories
Written to be used at the counter
Short chapters, tables you can check, and worked examples that add up. These are real pages from the book.
Eighteen chapters, one subject
From the federal rules to your own written count procedure. Part One is the free guide.
- 1Why the count matters
What a count proves, which drugs it covers, and why a clean one is worth the hour.
- 2The federal rules: the Controlled Substances Regulations
One regulation since October 1, 2026: what it changed and what it left alone.
- 3Your province: who sets the count, and how often
Every province's and territory's count rule, in the regulator's own terms.
- 4The perpetual inventory: keeping a running balance
The formula, a worked page, and the habits that keep a paper log reliable.
- 5Ordering and receiving
Where most differences are born, and why the arrival date matters.
- 6Storage, security and access
The federal duty, the guidance, and what each province adds.
- 7Running a count
The kinds of count, how to prepare, and how to count each form of stock.
- 8Reconciliation: finding the cause of a difference
A calm method, the checks in order, and a worked six-month window.
- 9Loss, theft and the 10-day report
What must be reported, when the clock starts, and how to file.
- 10Destruction and patient returns
Stock that leaves without being dispensed, and the record it needs.
- 11Methadone and other liquids
Keeping a balance in millilitres, and telling a normal variance from a real one.
- 12Prescriptions: verification, transfers, extensions and central fill
The paper trail, as the new regulation rewrote it.
- 13Low-dose codeine, targeted substances, delivery and advertising
Four topics that trip up careful pharmacies.
- 14People: pharmacists, technicians and diversion
Who may do what, and the signs of diversion.
- 15Records and retention
What to keep, for how long, and how to make it survive.
- 16Inspections, ownership changes and closing
The three moments that test the records hardest.
- 17Building your count procedure
A model procedure, a year's calendar, and how to tell it works.
- 18From paper to automatic: how NarcCount does it
What software changes, and what stays with the pharmacist.
- A Quick reference
- B The regulators and their documents
- C Glossary
- D Test yourself: thirty questions
- E Sources
Read it free. Keep the record in print.
The guide
All 18 chapters and 5 appendices, 116 pages. A PDF, sent by email. Read it on your phone or print the pages you need.
The logbook
106 pages of blank forms, bound in with the guide:
- Drug index
- Running balance pages
- Physical count pages
- Discrepancy follow-up forms
- Destruction records and log
- Shift-change counts
- Methadone daily balance
Get Part One free
Tell us where to send it. The 116-page guide arrives by email in a minute or two.
- The Controlled Substances Regulations, explained
- Your province’s count rule, in its own words
- Worked examples you can check with a pencil
- Thirty review questions, with answers
The whole book, in print
- Price
- $49.95 CAD
- Format
- Paperback
- Pages
- 222
- Size
- 8.5 x 11 in
- Inside
- The guide and the 106-page logbook
- Publisher
- 1001544035 Ontario Incorporated
Want the guide now? Get Part One free.
Rather the arithmetic did itself?
NarcCount does what the book teaches. It works out the expected balance for every drug, flags each difference and keeps the record. A pharmacist still counts and signs. The guide ends on a page of two QR codes: one for the paperback, one for NarcCount.
About the book
Is the guide really free?
Yes. Part One, the guide, is a 116-page PDF. Enter your email and we send you the link. You do not need an account, and we only email you again if you tick the box.
What is the difference between the guide and the paperback?
The guide is Part One: all 18 chapters and 5 appendices. The paperback is the guide plus Part Two, a 106-page logbook of blank forms for running balances, counts, follow-ups, destructions, shift changes and methadone.
When can I buy the paperback?
Now, on Amazon.ca, at $49.95 CAD. The "Buy the paperback on Amazon.ca" button on this page goes straight to it.
Who wrote it?
NarcCount, the narcotic reconciliation software for Canadian pharmacies, built by pharmacy people. Every rule in the book names its source, and Appendix E lists them all.
Is it legal advice?
No. It is general information for pharmacy professionals. Rules change, so confirm the current requirement with Health Canada and your provincial regulator before you rely on it.
Is it up to date?
It is the 2026 edition. It states the federal rules as of November 9, 2026, including the Controlled Substances Regulations that came into force on October 1, 2026.