Frequently Asked Questions
General
charlie is your go-to online healthcare platform, created by a team of pharmacists, physicians, and experienced healthcare providers. We offer on-demand treatment for everyday health needs like weight loss, sexual health, and more.
No, charlie is here to make getting certain prescriptions easier and faster, but it doesn’t replace your primary care provider. For everything beyond prescription lifestyle medications, we recommend seeing your regular doctor for checkups and any personal health concerns.
If you have an emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room right away. charlie isn’t designed for emergencies. Once things are under control, let your prescribing practitioner know about your experience, as it might affect your current treatment plan.
Absolutely! Our online assessments are designed to cover all the necessary questions for a proper diagnosis. We’ve collaborated with experts to ensure our process provides enough information for healthcare practitioners to determine your eligibility for a prescription and create an effective treatment plan.
If you’re 18 or older and physically in Ontario, you can use charlie. Currently, we can’t provide online consultations outside of Ontario.
Shipping
Absolutely! All charlie shipments arrive in plain packaging, so you can have your medication sent wherever is most convenient for you. Just make sure someone is available to sign for it.
Good news! There’s no cost for shipping your medication through the charlie Pharmacy Network.
We partner with Canada Post and Purolator for shipping.
We’ll email you if your package is returned to us. For most treatments, your meds will be destroyed 1 month after the fill date if we don’t hear back from you. For temperature-controlled medications, the reshipment window might be shorter due to their limited shelf life. Reshipments are subject to a pharmacist’s professional judgment. If you need help with a returned package, email our Customer Support Team at Support@CharlieMedical.ca ASAP.
You have 5 days from the date your tracking link was sent to let us know about an undelivered or lost package, or damaged medication.
Your tracking number will activate when the courier picks up your shipment from the pharmacy. Please wait until 6 pm the next business day. If it’s still not working, email us at Support@CharlieMedical.ca and we’ll check it out.
Not long at all! After you complete your assessment, a practitioner will usually respond within 24 hours, often even sooner. The pharmacy will then process and fill your prescription within 2-3 business days. All shipments typically take 2-3 business days to arrive. You’ll get an email with your tracking number once your treatment is on the way.
You can check the status of your prescription in the Upcoming tab.
You’ll see if it’s being processed by our pharmacists or if it’s on its way to you. Once your order is processed, it will be shipped to you within 2-3 business days.
Refill schedule (drug dependent):
Monthly: Refill processed every 24 to 27 days
Every 2 months: Refill processed every 50 to 53 days
Every 3 months: Refill processed every 76 to 84 days
Yes! The pharmacy will process your prescription with any expected holiday delays in mind.
A signature is required upon delivery.
You can update your address in the Shipping tab of your account. Just make sure to do it at least 48 hours before your refill date.
Billing & Payments
Charlie charges a fee for the online visit, but only if you’re approved by the healthcare practitioner. The fee is usually $40, but it can vary depending on the treatment category.
Medication costs depend on the treatment but will be similar to what you’d pay at a local pharmacy. Once we have received your prescription, we will contact you regarding any costs you will be responsible for.
Good news—if you have insurance, Charlie’s partner pharmacy can bill your insurer directly.
To update your credit card information, go to your account settings, navigate to the Payments section, and select Manage Cards. From there, you can update your credit card details.
When you submit an online visit, we pre-authorize your credit card for the amount. If your visit is denied, we release the pre-authorization. However, it can take up to 3 business days for your bank to update your statement.
In Canada, it’s illegal to display market pricing for prescription medication online. But don’t worry—you’ll see the estimated cost during your online visit. This estimate includes the pharmacy fill fee based on your chosen refill schedule and may vary if a different medication is prescribed or if you have insurance coverage.
You’ll be charged for the online visit once you submit your assessment. If approved by our healthcare practitioner, your prescription will be activated by the pharmacy, and you’ll be charged for the medication based on your refill schedule. Any applicable insurance or benefits coverage will be applied according to your plan.
We accept all major credit cards for any aspect of your treatment not covered by insurance.
Insurance
No worries! You’ll find the official receipt for your medication costs in your package from the pharmacy. You can use this receipt to submit a manual claim to your insurance provider. For future refills, once you upload your insurance information in the Manage Profile tab of your account, we’ll bill your insurer directly.
Just head over to the Manage Profile section of your account settings and add or update your insurance information.
Coverage varies a lot between different insurance plans. If you are covered, Charlie’s partner pharmacy can bill your insurer directly and ship your meds to your door at no extra cost. Be sure to upload your private and/or provincial benefit card during your online visit so our partner pharmacy can apply any coverage you’re eligible for before shipping your meds. Note that insurance coverage for medications doesn’t include the cost of your visit.
Our online visits are completed through a secure chat system and are considered asynchronous. Unfortunately, asynchronous visits aren’t currently covered by insurance or provincial health plans, so a visit fee will apply based on the treatment category.
OHIP+ covers some birth control for eligible Ontario residents under 25 who don’t have private insurance. Remember to upload your Ontario health card during your online visit so our partner pharmacy can apply your coverage directly.
The price you see in your profile is the estimated maximum cost before benefits. The actual cost will be updated once the pharmacy processes and ships your refill, applying any eligible coverage.
Medication coverage varies by plan and province. For private insurance, contact your benefits administrator with your details and the Drug Identification Number (DIN) and drug name to check your coverage.
Prescriptions
Switching medications requires a new prescription since the healthcare practitioner needs to cancel the existing one and review your health assessment for the new drug. Just go to Treatments, click “View details” on your prescription, and use the “Change my treatment plan” feature to submit a free follow-up visit and request a medication change.
Once your Charlie account and medical profile are set up, you can complete an online visit for any eligible treatment category using the same account. Each additional assessment submitted will require a separate initial consultation fee.
Prescriptions from Charlie healthcare practitioners are valid for up to 12 months from the issue date. Your Charlie prescription will usually include refills, but the amount and number of refills depend on the practitioner who reviews your online visit.
We’re planning to offer prescriptions for various other everyday ailments. Want to know when they’re available? Sign up for our mailing list by creating an account.
Every pharmacy charges a dispensing fee for filling prescriptions, which is included in the medication price we display. With Charlie, there’s a $11.99 fill fee for each drug every time you get a refill.
If your visit is still pending, contact the prescribing healthcare practitioner directly for an alternative drug. If you’ve already been approved for a backordered drug, you’ll need a new prescription to change it. Reach out to our support team via email at Support@CharlieMedical.ca
Absolutely! If you prefer to pick up your medication from a local pharmacy, choose the “Pickup at external pharmacy” option on the checkout page of the online visit. If you need to transfer an existing prescription to your local pharmacy, contact us at Support@CharlieMedical.ca for assistance. Note: We can’t guarantee prices at pharmacies outside our network.
Healthcare Provider
Your practitioner will contact you via secure instant messaging. You’ll get an email notification when there’s a new message, and you can reply to these messages from within your Charlie account.
Our medical team oversee each treatment to ensure that our medical assessments are thorough, safe, personalized, and of the highest quality. Our pharmacists offer treatment support through medication counseling and education.
All online visits submitted via Charlie are reviewed by licensed Canadian healthcare practitioners. They must be licensed in Ontario to prescribe medication. These healthcare practitioners, not Charlie, decide whether to write a prescription and determine the appropriate dosage if needed.
You can communicate with your designated Charlie practitioner for the duration of your prescription. As your prescription nears its end, we will email you to schedule a checkup visit so one of our prescribers can renew your prescription. However, our matching system is based on availability, so we cannot guarantee you will see the same practitioner for your renewal visit.
Our Charlie practitioners cannot make referrals at this time. We recommend speaking with your family doctor or visiting a local walk-in clinic for a referral.
Treatment
After creating an account, you will complete a medical assessment for evaluation by one of the Charlie healthcare practitioners. During your assessment, you will have the opportunity to send your practitioner questions via secure messaging.
In most cases, practitioners will complete your assessment with secure messaging alone but sometimes they may determine you require an audio or video visit and/or further diagnostic testing to help determine the best treatment plan for you.
If your practitioner has determined a prescription treatment is appropriate, they will approve your visit and write you a prescription. Our partner pharmacy will then ship your prescription to your home.
You’ll be able to message your healthcare practitioner if you have questions about your medication or want to make changes to your treatment at any time.
You can expect to receive a response from a healthcare practitioner within 24 hours of submission. If you’ve been waiting longer than this, please email Support@CharlieMedical.ca and we’ll look into it.
No. We use an asynchronous telemedicine model so you can complete your online visit in your own time and we save your progress so you can come back later to finish it.
If you are completing a visit in the mental health or weight loss categories, your healthcare practitioner may require a phone or video call to discuss your medical profile further during the assessment process.
Great, you’ve already taken the first step! Next, a healthcare practitioner will review your assessment and if necessary, will send you a link to book an online audio or video appointment with them. This appointment will help them determine the best treatment plan for you. If your healthcare practitioner thinks you will benefit from an available medication, they will write you a prescription. Our pharmacy can ship your medication to your home if you would like your medication dispensed through the Charlie Medical Pharmacy network.
No. A prescription written by a licensed healthcare practitioner is required for all medication currently provided through Charlie. If you already have a prescription with at least one refill remaining, you can transfer it to the Charlie Medical Pharmacy network.
Privacy & Legal
Yes! In Canada, only licensed healthcare practitioners can write prescriptions, and only registered pharmacists can fill them. Our expert team at Charlie includes Pharmacists, Nurse Pracitioners and Physicians and strictly adheres to all regulations set by the Ontario College of Pharmacists and College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.
Absolutely. All prescriptions through Charlie are issued by licensed Canadian healthcare practitioners, just like those at hospitals, doctor’s offices, or clinics. These practitioners prescribe only if they determine it is medically safe and appropriate based on your medical profile and assessment answers. Our assessments are designed by our expert medical team. Additionally, the pharmacies in the Charlie Pharmacy Network are provincially accredited, just like any retail pharmacy.
Yes, safeguarding your information is a top priority for us. Your personal health information from your medical assessment remains strictly confidential between you and your Charlie healthcare practitioner. Additionally, all your account details—including medical assessments, credit card, and shipping information—are stored securely. Charlie adheres to all federal and provincial health privacy laws, ensuring your data remains private and protected. For more details, please refer to our Privacy Policy.
Your privacy is our top priority. All your data is encrypted with 256-bit SSL/TLS, and we take significant steps to keep your data secure. Check out our Privacy Policy for more details.
Absolutely! We’re happy to share your medical records with your primary care provider. Just send a request to Support@CharlieMedical.ca and our clinical operations team will assist you.