Ways to access care
Care options: medication and the other routes
Medication is one route among several. This page describes the documented options without presenting any of them as a personal recommendation.
Medication is one route. This page lays the routes side by side without ranking them: medication through a private online service, medication through a family doctor or nurse practitioner, publicly funded programs, dietitian and behavioural support, and surgery. A reader can leave this site through a public resource without a paid click.
This site does not assess anyone. The routes below are entry points to investigate, each with what was documented and what was not.
Routes
| Route | What it is | Who provides it | Cost to the patient | What this site documented |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Family doctor or nurse practitioner | Assessment and prescribing inside the public system | Your own clinician | Visit insured; medicine and pharmacy fees are separate | Not researched as a service; public drug coverage is on the coverage page |
| Private online service | Virtual assessment, prescribing, follow-up, often with a partner pharmacy | Physicians and nurse practitioners employed or contracted by the service | Care fees plus medicine, dispensing, delivery and possibly lab work | Seven services on the compare page |
| Publicly funded medical weight program | Referral-based specialist assessment with group and medical follow-up | Provincial programs; in BC, the Medical Weight Management MSP program | No program charge advertised in BC; add-ons priced separately | BC program record R22-C71 R22-C74 |
| Bariatric networks | Physician-referred public medical and surgical pathways | Provincial health services; Ontario Bariatric Network; Alberta Health Services bariatric sites | Insured, with some patient expenses | Ontario and Alberta entry points found; other provinces not researched A-C32 |
| Dietitian support | Nutrition counselling | Public phone services (BC HealthLink BC 8-1-1 dietitian line), private dietitians | Free by phone in BC; private rates vary (one BC program lists an initial hour at $150) | BC route found; others not researched A-C32 R22-C87 |
| Behavioural and mental health support | Counselling, food-addiction programs, clinical psychology | Public and private providers | Varies; often not stated | One BC program advertises these; prices not established R22-C89 |
| Surgery | Bariatric surgery through referral | Provincial surgical programs | Insured with criteria and waits | Not researched beyond the network entry points above |
Medication, by ingredient
- Semaglutide: Ozempic, Wegovy, Rybelsus, Sevmia, and the generics, each with its own indication and status.
- Tirzepatide: Mounjaro and Zepbound, plus the other authorized products (Saxenda, Victoza, Contrave, Xenical, Imcivree).
What the guidance says
Canadian adult obesity guidance treats obesity as a chronic condition and supports individualized, long-term care, with medication as one option among behavioural, nutritional and surgical routes. A-C15
What is not on this site
No supplement catalogue, no diet-program reviews, no dosing or switching tools, no pediatric detail beyond what the product labels say. Those need an expert-reviewed case before they belong here.
Sources for this page
Every claim ID below is a row in the evidence ledger. The source date is the date the source itself carries; the access date is when the researcher opened it. A claim with several rows is one claim with several sources, not several confirmations.
This table scrolls sideways.
| Claim | What the source says | Source | Source date | Accessed | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R22-C71 | MSP program serves patients throughout BC, with virtual or clinic visits. | store.medweight.ca/pages/msp-covered-program | undated | 2026-09-17 | company self-report |
| R22-C74 | MSP program advertises no patient program charge. | store.medweight.ca/pages/msp-covered-program | undated | 2026-09-17 | company self-report |
| A-C32 source 1 of 3 | BC provides free phone registered dietitian services | healthlinkbc.ca/find-care/find-health-services/program/di... | Undated current page | 2026-09-16 | directly observed |
| A-C32 source 2 of 3 | Alberta bariatric sites differ in services and require physician/NP referral | albertahealthservices.ca/info/Page18157.aspx | Undated current page | 2026-09-16 | directly observed |
| A-C32 source 3 of 3 | Ontario Bariatric Network offers publicly funded referred multidisciplinary programmes with some patient expenses | ontariobariatricnetwork.ca/our-programs/medical-program | Undated current indexed page | 2026-09-16 | directly observed |
| R22-C87 | Private dietitian: initial hour $150; three-session bundle $325; five-session bundle $475. | store.medweight.ca/products/private-dietitian | undated | 2026-09-17 | company self-report |
| R22-C89 source 1 of 2 | Private food-addiction counselling and clinical psychology services advertised; price not established. | store.medweight.ca/pages/mental-health-services | undated | 2026-09-17 | company self-report |
| R22-C89 source 2 of 2 | Homepage distinguishes group program mental-health support from private counselling/psychology options. | medweight.ca/ | undated | 2026-09-17 | company self-report |
| A-C15 | 2025 adult obesity pharmacotherapy guidance supports individualized long-term care | obesitycanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/11-Canadian-A... | 2025-08 | 2026-09-16 | directly observed |