PC Health has launched PC Chat, a free AI-powered health tool built in Canada, based on Canadian clinical guidelines, and providing Canadians a convenient place to ask health questions and get plain-language information in real time.
“Canadians are asking health questions every day, but more information doesn’t always bring more clarity,” said Lauren Steinberg, Executive Vice President and Chief Digital ORicer, Loblaw Companies Limited. “We built PC Chat to give Canadians a place to find trusted information and a clear path to next steps. It’s the most comprehensive AI health tool built specifically for Canadians, informed by Canadian clinical expertise and backed by an advisory board of leading Canadian clinical experts.”
New research commissioned by PC Health found that 88 per cent of Canadians searched online for health information in the past year, yet nearly half (46 per cent) remain unsure whether the information they find is accurate, one-third (33 per cent) encounter conflicting advice, and more than one-quarter (26 per cent) say there is simply too much information to sort through.
“As a physician, I see an important role for technology in helping Canadians access reliable, trusted health information while they navigate a healthcare system that is under increasing pressure,” said Dr. Anthony Crocco, Chair of Shoppers Drug Mart’s Clinical AI Advisory Committee. “PC Chat has been carefully reviewed for Canada’s healthcare context. It is designed to help people feel more informed, and support – not replace – care from healthcare professionals.”
Built in Canada, for Canadians
PC Health said PC Chat was designed for the Canadian healthcare system and grounded in more than 1,000 Canadian clinical sources that have been reviewed and validated for Canadian healthcare relevance, reliability and inclusivity. Canadian medical professionals from our Clinical AI Advisory Committee have also been a part of building it from the start and shaping how it works, the information it relies on, and how it guides people toward appropriate next steps.
Vetted through credentialed third-party advisors, the chat was designed to ensure relevance to every province and territory, including underserved patient populations. This includes adaptation and testing to deliver an equivalent user experience on the French-language version launching later this fall, added PC Health.
Personalized, with privacy built in.
It said PC Chat was designed with privacy and safety at its core. Canadians can use the chat confidently knowing their health chat conversations are stored in Canada – and are protected by Canada’s privacy laws.
Canadians control their information and they decide what they choose to share. A more personalized experience is available when a user chooses to connect their PC Health or Shoppers Drug Mart digital pharmacy profile, giving the chat more context about their health history and helping make responses more applicable to their individual circumstances, it explained.
“Pharmacists tailor patient conversations based on their clinical knowledge and that patient’s medication history,” said Nabil Chikh, Senior Vice President, Pharmacy, Shoppers Drug Mart. “PC Chat helps users navigate next steps based on the questions they ask, such as when to visit a healthcare provider, deciding where to go, so they can come to healthcare conversations feeling even more prepared.”
Helping Canadians find the right care
With Canada’s healthcare system under increasing pressure, long wait times can make it difficult to get timely answers. PC Health said PC Chat will never replace doctors, pharmacists, or other healthcare providers, but Canadians deserve more options — a tool based on Canadian medical guidelines, with oversight from Canadian health professionals. It helps Canadians find the care they need, and feel better-equipped for their healthcare appointments.
Ask Away. Get informed. Know what you can do next.
To celebrate the launch of PC Chat, PC Health is launching a campaign called “Ask Away” which was brought to life through a public aerial drone experience over Toronto recently. Inspired by the health questions many Canadians find themselves asking late at night, the experience is designed to illuminate those moments of uncertainty and remind people that getting informed can be easier than they think.
The new AI-powered health chat is available now in most Canadian provinces on the PC Heath and Shoppers Drug Mart apps and websites. It will become available in New Brunswick and Quebec (for Pharmaprix and PC Santé app users in Quebec) later this fall.
“For over 20 years, our work has been about one thing: making sure healthcare professionals can trust the information in front of them. For PC Health’s new AI-powered health tool, we brought that same rigour to the evidence behind the tool, helping curate and vet many of the Canadian sources that inform its knowledge library. Canadians deserve health information grounded in credible, current evidence, and that’s exactly the standard we brought to this work,” said Lena Salach, CEO, Centre for Effective Practice.
“Canadians are navigating a healthcare system under enormous strain, and often the first challenge is simply knowing what to do next. A reliable, Canadian-built tool that helps people better understand their symptoms and navigate to the right type of care can make a meaningful difference. It doesn’t replace healthcare professionals; it helps Canadians become more informed, make more confident decisions about their next steps, and get the right care at the right time. That’s good for patients, and it can help us make better, more efficient use of our healthcare resources,” said Dr. Muhammad Mamdani, PharmD, MA, MPH, Director, Temerty Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research and Education in Medicine (T-CAIREM) at University of Toronto.
Aaron Cheng, VP, Digital Health, Shoppers Drug Mart, said people have increasingly been using AI tools looking for health answers and research indicates that about half of Canadians regularly use an AI tool for health advice. But only a quarter of them actually trust the answers they get from it.
As the largest pharmacy in Canada, and a healthcare provider, PC Health is filling a void for Canadians who are desperate for access to care.
Cheng said the company expects use of the digital tools to be across the board, hitting all demographics and age groups.
“Ultimately, over time, we really want to make sure whatever health concerns that derive from those questions is to guide those users to the right care provider,” he noted.
“And, right now the Canadian healthcare system is very difficult for someone to navigate, especially if you don’t have a primary care provider. So for us, the ambition is how do we actually help those patients find the right care in their neighbourhoods so that they get the care they need.
“We see this very much as a complimentary tool. We have our human clinicians involved in the day to day. Obviously this does not replace any clinician. It doesn’t treat, it doesn’t diagnose, but we do think it’ll be a helpful companion for most Canadians.”
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