Receiving controlled substances: the receiving record

Under the Controlled Substances Regulations (in force October 1, 2026), a pharmacist or pharmacy technician documents every controlled substance received from a licensed dealer, another pharmacist or a hospital — low-dose codeine products included. Health Canada’s guidance for community pharmacies (CS-GD-022, September 29, 2026) lists what that record holds.

What the receiving record holds

• Who received it: the name of the pharmacist or pharmacy technician.
• Who it came from: the wholesaler, pharmacy or hospital, the person’s name and title where there is one, and their municipal address.
• The date it was received. Health Canada calls this critical: it is how a loss or theft is detected, and the date the reconciliation counts the stock on.
• The product: name, brand, the controlled substance it contains, form, strength, number of containers, units per container and DIN.

Recording a receipt in NarcCount

Open Purchases and use Record a receipt. Pick the drug by DIN or name, enter the quantity (or packs × pack size) and the date it arrived; Received by starts as your name. Choose who it came from — a wholesaler, another pharmacy for a central fill or an emergency supply, a hospital in an emergency, or a pharmacy that is closing or changing owner — and add their name and address. For a central fill, add the Rx number at your pharmacy. Tick Package checked on arrival once the package has been inspected for damage or tampering and the contents verified. Only the drug, the quantity and the date received are required.

Deliveries already uploaded

A line imported from your wholesaler’s report is dated by its invoice. Press Receiving on the line to record who received it, where it came from and the day it actually arrived. Receiving is per delivery, so it applies to every line on that invoice at once. If the date received is different, the lines move to that date and the invoice date is kept beside them; uploading the same report again still recognises them.

Reconciliation uses the date received

Health Canada’s reconciliation starts from the last verified count and adds everything received since “according to the receiving records”, including stock transferred from another pharmacy for an emergency supply or a central fill. So NarcCount counts a delivery on the day it arrived. A new date that would move a delivery across a finalized count is refused — reopen that count first — and a line from the Kroll sync keeps the date the sync gave it.

Stock you send out

Stock you provide to another pharmacy (a central fill or an emergency supply), return to a licensed dealer, or sell over the counter as a low-dose codeine product also leaves your inventory. Record it on Dispensing → Record a sale or transfer, so the next count expects it to be gone. For an emergency supply, Health Canada expects both pharmacies to record it: one as a sale, the other as a receipt.