DIN number meaning and lookup in Health Canada's database

DIN number meaning and lookup in Canada

A DIN number is a Drug Identification Number, an eight-digit number Health Canada assigns to an authorized drug product before marketing. Look for it on the manufacturer's label and check it in Health Canada's Drug Product Database (DPD).

What a DIN identifies

Health Canada's DIN fact sheet describes the DIN as a computer-generated number. It applies to both prescription and over-the-counter drugs. One DIN points to one specific combination of manufacturer, product name, active ingredients, strengths, pharmaceutical form and route of administration.

So a new strength or a new dosage form of the same brand gets its own DIN. The digits mean nothing. They don't encode the ingredient, the company or the prescription status.

The legal requirement is in section C.01.014 of the Food and Drug Regulations. It generally stops a manufacturer from selling a drug in dosage form unless a DIN has been assigned and not cancelled. The section lists exceptions, so read it before you assume a given product needs one.

Where to find the DIN on the package

Section C.01.005(1) requires the DIN on the principal display panel of both the inner and the outer label, preceded by "Drug Identification Number", "Drogue : identification numérique", both expressions, or "DIN". In the regulations' definitions, the inner label is on the immediate container and the outer label is on the outside of the package.

A pharmacy label is a different story. Under C.01.005(2), the DIN label rule exempts drugs compounded by a pharmacist under a prescription or by a practitioner. It also exempts a drug sold under prescription if the label gives its name, potency and manufacturer. That means the sticker on a dispensed bottle may not show a DIN at all. Look at the manufacturer's original container or carton instead.

How to do a DIN number lookup

The public DIN search is Health Canada's Drug Product Database. Health Canada's search tips give the method:

1. Type all eight digits, including any leading zeros, in the "Drug identification number (DIN)" field.
2. Click Search or press Enter. The DIN search ignores the other product fields.
3. Don't use punctuation or wildcards. Searches aren't case-sensitive.
4. If you don't have the number, leave DIN and ATC blank. Search by product name, company or active ingredient, and pick the statuses you want to include.

Then compare the record with the label: product name, company, active ingredients and strengths, dosage form and route. Also check the current status, the status date and any linked product monograph or prescribing information. The terminology page explains each field. The database is updated nightly, not in real time.

What the DIN status means

A match in the DPD doesn't prove the product is on the market. The terminology page separates active DINs into three statuses:

• Approved: authorized, but not yet marketed in Canada.
• Marketed: currently sold in Canada. It says nothing about stock at a particular pharmacy.
• Dormant: previously marketed, with no sales for at least 12 consecutive months.

Cancelled records come in categories: pre-market, post-market, unreturned annual, safety issue, and transitioned to biocides (terminology). A cancellation isn't automatically a safety withdrawal, so read the category. The current status date also isn't necessarily the original approval date.

A missing monograph doesn't mean the product is unauthorized either. Some products have prescribing information instead, and a "NO" in the document column only means no document is available there at that time (search tips).

Numbers that look like a DIN but aren't

Licensed natural health products carry an eight-digit NPN (Natural Product Number) or a DIN-HM (Homeopathic Medicine Number). Neither is an ordinary drug DIN. Search them in the Licensed Natural Health Products Database, not the DPD.

The Biocides Regulations came into force on 31 May 2025 and apply to surface disinfectants and sanitizers, not to every disinfectant product. Legacy surface disinfectants with drug DINs must transition by 31 May 2029, and the biocide number keeps the same eight-digit sequence. The label can still say "DIN". After transition, the number is not a Drug Identification Number under the Food and Drug Regulations, and the old DPD record shows "Cancelled (Transitioned to Biocides)" (terminology). Health Canada treats that status as a change of regulatory framework, not as a safety cancellation.

RegAffairs AI's answer on DIN numbers links each point to its source.