A formulary is a list of pharmaceutical drugs, often decided upon by a group of people, for various reasons such as insurance coverage or use at a medical facility.
[1] Traditionally, a formulary contained a collection of formulas for the compounding and testing of medication (a resource closer to what would be referred to as a pharmacopoeia today).
Based on recommendations the provincial and territorial governments decide whether or not to implement changes to their healthcare system and public drug formularies.
[8] Formularies have shown to cause issues in hospitals when patients are discharged when not aligned with outpatient drug insurance plans.
There is a section in the Drug Tariff, known unofficially as the "Blacklist", detailing medicines which are not to be prescribed under the NHS and must be paid for privately by the patient.
As in the United States, the NHS actively encourages prescribing of generic drugs, in order to save more of the budget allocated to them by the Department of Health.