Search Tips for the Notice of Compliance (NOC) Database
The Notice of Compliance (NOC)s reflect the information available to Health Canada at the time of issuance. The NOC search results are listed in chronological order.
The NOC Database is updated nightly.
The tips below will facilitate searches for NOC records and it may be useful to refer to the NOC Database Terminology and the Frequently Asked Questions sections.
Searching the Database
A search is limited to return a maximum of 250 results. If an error message appears "too many NOCs found", press your Internet browser's Back button to refine your criteria and search again. For example (e.g.), repeat your initial search, but narrow it by specifying a date range (such as [i.e.] between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2004), or use any other criteria to limit the search.
You can search for drug products that have received NOCs by using one or more (including all) of the ten fields listed below.
The ten fields are:
- Brand/Product Name
- Medicinal/Active Ingredient
- Manufacturer
- Therapeutic Class
- Drug Identification Number (DIN)
- Submission Class
- Product Type
- Notice of Compliance with conditions NOC/c
- NOC Date
Note:
The brand/product name, medicinal ingredient, manufacturer and therapeutic class fields have a wild card feature built into the search capability in order to facilitate a search if you do not know the full spelling of the word.
For example, if searching for a medicinal ingredient, simply type in the part of the name known and the search engine will automatically search for all the medicinal ingredients that contain the string of letters. The database results page will list all medicinal ingredients containing those letters.
Due to the migration of web content from the Health Canada site to Canada.ca, as of the date of this Notice, links to individual Summary Basis of Decision documents for drug products will no longer be provided from the NOC database.
Search Tips by Field Name
Brand/Product Name: This field has a wild card feature to facilitate a search if you do not know the full spelling of the word. This is the name the manufacturer has chosen to market the product.
Drug Identification Number (DIN): A DIN is the 8-digit number that the Health Canada assigns to every drug product authorized for sale in Canada . You must input the exact 8-digit number in this field; otherwise the following error message will appear "No NOCs found matching the entered criteria". Note: Radiopharmaceuticals do not have DINs.
Notice of Compliance with Conditions (NOC/c): This search will provide a listing of all NOC/c if you just check the box and enter no other information in any other field.
Once a sponsor provides Health Canada with satisfactory evidence of the drug's effectiveness, and Health Canada is satisfied that all the conditions agreed-upon at the outset have been met, the conditions associated with authorization to sell will be removed in accordance with the Notice of Compliance with Conditions Policy. A notation will be added to the database reflecting the date the conditions were removed. The NOC/c will remain on the database for historical purposes but it will be clearly marked as having fulfilled all the conditions and any documentation associated with the original conditions will be removed from the website.
Medicinal/Active Ingredient: This field has a wild card feature to facilitate a search if you do not know the full spelling of the word. This field should be used when searching for drug products with the same Medicinal Ingredient.
Note the results page will only display a maximum of 250 hits with the same Medicinal Ingredient.
Some products may contain several medicinal ingredients. However, you can only search by one medicinal ingredient at a time. If you still cannot find the medicinal ingredient, check for variations in spelling i.e., sulphate versus sulfate.
Manufacturer: This field has a wild card feature to facilitate a search if you do not know the full spelling of the word. This field can be used to search for the name of a manufacturer (also known as the sponsor or company). It is best to start with a simple search by excluding terms such as Inc. or Ltd.
Submission Class: Prior to using this search field please read the NOC Database Terminology section to define the terms below. A search in this field can be narrowed down by specifying one of the following submission classes:
- New Active Substance (NAS)
- Priority
- Priority NAS
- Other
Therapeutic Class: This field has a wild card feature to facilitate a search if you do not know the full spelling of the word. Use this Search if you do not find the result you were looking for search again using synonyms. For example when searching for Cholesterol Lowering Agent, also search for Antihypercholesteroemic.
Product Type: Please note that the “Product Type” field in the NOC database/extracts may not be an accurate representation of an individual product’s prescription status/schedule (i.e. Prescription, over-the-counter, Schedule D, etc.). For specific information in regards to a product’s prescription status/schedule, please refer to Health Canada’s Drug Product Database.
Notice of Compliance (NOC) Date: Use this field to search for NOCs issued on a particular date or within a specified period. Enter a date value in both the "from" and "to" fields. The required date format is yyyy-mm-dd.
- To find all NOCs issued on August 3, 1999, in the "NOC date from" search field enter 1999-08-03 and in the "to" field enter 1999-08-03
- To find all NOCs issued in the year 2003, in the "NOC date from" search field enter 2003-01-01 and in the "to" field enter 2003-12-31
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