Buy a pharmacy
Buy a pharmacy in Canada with a pharmacist on your side
Every pharmacy for sale looks good in the seller's package. We have bought pharmacies with our own capital, and we read a P&L the way an owner does: dispensing fees, rebates, payer mix, staffing, lease. Buy with someone who knows where deals go wrong.
Buying a pharmacy in Canada, in brief
A Canadian community pharmacy is priced at a multiple of its normalized EBITDA, most selling for 4x to 6x (the provincial baselines we start from are in the multiples table), plus inventory at cost. Banks typically lend 60 to 75 percent of the price and look for about 1.25x debt service coverage, so a buyer needs 25 to 40 percent in equity, with a vendor take back sometimes filling part of the gap. The purchase runs from a signed letter of intent through 4 to 8 weeks of due diligence to a purchase agreement, and closes only after the provincial College approves the change of ownership, which takes at least 30 days in BC and 45 days in Ontario. Who may own a pharmacy differs by province: in BC the majority of the owning company's directors must be BC registered pharmacists, and in Ontario a majority of the directors and a majority of each class of shares must be held by pharmacists, apart from the few companies operating under pre 1954 charters.
Guides: how pharmacies are valued, what banks require, vendor take back financing, asset sale or share sale, the deal timeline stage by stage, and buying in Alberta.
The process
How buying works with us
Six steps from first conversation to owning the dispensary. We stay involved at every one of them.
1
Qualification
A short conversation about your goals, licensing status, capital, and timeline, so we only show you pharmacies you can actually close on.
2
NDA and financials
You sign a non-disclosure agreement and receive the full confidential file: normalized financials, lease terms, staffing, payer mix, and the story behind the numbers.
3
Analysis with a pharmacist
We walk the P&L with you line by line: dispensing fee exposure, rebate dependence, prescriber concentration, and what the business looks like under your ownership.
4
Letter of intent
We help you structure and negotiate an LOI that wins the deal without overpaying: price, inventory treatment, transition support, and conditions.
5
Financing
We package the deal the way lenders want to see it and connect you with banks that finance pharmacy acquisitions every week.
6
Due diligence to closing
Verification, definitive agreements with your lawyer, regulatory transfer with the provincial college, and keys on closing day.
Off-market access
The best pharmacies rarely reach a public listing
Many owners will sell to the right buyer but refuse to advertise. Their pharmacy for sale is never published anywhere: it is quietly matched with a qualified buyer from a list like ours. If you are only watching public listings, you are seeing a fraction of the market.
Buyers on our list hear about new opportunities first, including pharmacies that will never be listed. Tell us your provinces and budget, and when a match appears you get the call before the market does.
No cost, no obligation, and your details stay with us.
Join the confidential buyer list
Only your name, email, and the provinces you are interested in are needed. Everything after that is optional, and every question you answer makes the matches you receive more relevant. Skip anything that does not apply.
Financing
Financing a pharmacy purchase
60% to 75%
of purchase price typically financed by Canadian banks
1.25x
minimum debt service coverage ratio lenders require
6 to 12
months for a typical purchase from search to closing
Pharmacies are among the most bankable businesses in Canada, but lenders still want the deal presented properly: normalized EBITDA, a credible transition plan, and coverage ratios that survive stress testing. We package the file the way credit committees want to read it. For the details, see our guides on bank requirements for pharmacy financing in Canada and vendor take-back financing, which can bridge the gap between bank debt and your equity.
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