Wegovy vs Ozempic: same drug, different label, dose and price in Canada

Wegovy vs Ozempic: the short answer

Wegovy vs Ozempic comes down to label, dose, price and coverage, because the medicine in the two pens is identical. Search it as Ozempic vs Wegovy and the answer is the same.

Wegovy takes off more weight on average, and the reason is simple: its maintenance dose is higher. Ozempic is cheaper, and diabetes drug plans are more likely to cover it.

Here is how the two brands line up in Canada:

	Ozempic	Wegovy
Drug and maker	Semaglutide, Novo Nordisk	Semaglutide, Novo Nordisk
Canadian label	Adults with type 2 diabetes, including lowering heart and kidney risks	Weight management in adults and qualifying teens, plus heart-attack risk and MASH
First approved here	January 4, 2018	November 23, 2021
How the dose rises	0.25 mg, then 0.5 mg; 1 mg and 2 mg only if blood sugar needs more	Five monthly steps up to 2.4 mg
Highest dose on the label	2 mg a week	2.4 mg a week
Pens on sale, November 2026	0.25/0.5 mg pen and 1 mg pen	A separate pen for each strength
Anyone under 18	Not indicated	Ages 12 to 17 who meet the criteria
Missed a dose	Take it within 5 days, or skip it	Take it if your next dose is 2 or more days off, or skip it
Moving your injection day	Keep doses at least 2 days apart	Keep doses at least 3 days apart
Generic you can buy	Yes, with a diabetes label	No (Sevmia approved, not sold)

Sources for the table: the Ozempic and Wegovy monographs, the Notice of Compliance database and the Drug Product Database^2,1,3,4.

The rest of this page explains each row. You will see why the doses differ and what the one trial of both doses found. Then we cover Ozempic for weight, cost, coverage and who should ask for which.

Is Wegovy the same as Ozempic?

Yes, as far as the drug goes. Both contain semaglutide, a lab-made copy of GLP-1, a gut hormone that tells your brain you have eaten enough and slows how fast your stomach empties.

Novo Nordisk makes both pens. What Health Canada reviewed each brand for is where they part ways^2,1.

Each brand was built on its own set of trials. Ozempic’s Canadian label rests on diabetes studies that measured A1C, the three-month blood sugar average².

Wegovy’s rests on weight studies run at a higher dose¹. A Canadian label covers the uses its trials backed up, which is why the weight dose carries its own brand name and price.

If you searched “semaglutide vs Ozempic”, that is the same split from another angle. Semaglutide is the ingredient.

Ozempic is one brand of it. In Canada you will also see:

• Wegovy, the weight-management injection¹.
• Rybelsus, a daily semaglutide tablet authorized for type 2 diabetes only⁵.
• Generic semaglutide pens from Apotex and Dr. Reddy’s, copies of Ozempic with a diabetes label⁴.
• Plosbrio and Poviztra, two more Novo Nordisk names for its Ozempic and Wegovy products. Health Canada approved them in December 2025, but neither was on sale in November 2026^4,3.

One rule follows from all this. Because the pens hold the same drug, you never take two at once.

The Wegovy monograph says not to combine it with any other semaglutide product and names Ozempic and Rybelsus outright¹. The Ozempic monograph says not to pair it with other GLP-1 drugs².

What each label covers in Canada

Ozempic’s label is about diabetes from start to finish. Wegovy’s is about weight, with three extra uses on top.

Ozempic is authorized for adults with type 2 diabetes²:

• to improve blood sugar along with diet and exercise, alone or with other diabetes drugs;
• to lower the risk of a heart attack, stroke or death from heart disease in adults who also have heart disease or chronic kidney disease;
• to lower the risk of a lasting drop in kidney function, kidney failure and death from heart disease in adults with chronic kidney disease.

It is not for type 1 diabetes and has not been studied in anyone under 18². None of Ozempic’s Canadian approvals has stepped outside type 2 diabetes, and none lists weight management³.

Wegovy covers chronic weight management in adults with a BMI of 30 or more, or 27 or more with at least one weight-related condition. It also covers teens aged 12 to 17 who meet set limits. Adults with established heart disease and a BMI of 27 or more can use it to lower the risk of a non-fatal heart attack.

A liver disease called MASH is covered under a conditional approval¹. Our Zepbound vs Wegovy comparison lays out that label row by row, with the heart and teen trials behind it.

Two details matter for people choosing between these brands:

• Diabetes can qualify you for Wegovy. Type 2 diabetes is one of the weight-related conditions the Wegovy label lists. An adult with diabetes and a BMI of 27 or more fits both labels¹.
• The heart claims cover different people. Ozempic’s applies to people who have type 2 diabetes². Wegovy’s applies to adults with heart disease and a BMI of 27 or more, and its outcome trial, SELECT, enrolled people without diabetes^1,6.

Doses and pens: why the numbers differ

Ozempic climbs only as far as your blood sugar needs. Wegovy climbs to one fixed weight-loss dose. That one design choice explains most of the gap in results.

The Ozempic monograph starts everyone at 0.25 mg a week for 4 weeks and says plainly that 0.25 mg is not a treatment dose. Next comes 0.5 mg. If blood sugar still needs work after at least 4 weeks, the dose can rise to 1 mg, and after 4 more weeks to 2 mg, the maximum².

For adults with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease, the label names 1 mg as the maintenance dose². So the climb stops when the A1C target is met, not when weight stops falling.

Wegovy goes up every 4 weeks through 0.5, 1 and 1.7 mg to its 2.4 mg maintenance dose¹. We quote these steps from the monographs to explain the difference, not as dosing advice. Your prescriber sets your schedule.

Now the part most comparison sites miss. Health Canada’s Drug Product Database showed this on November 12, 2026⁴:

• Two Ozempic pens are on the market: a pen that delivers 0.25 or 0.5 mg doses (DIN 02540258) and a 1 mg pen (DIN 02471469).
• The 2 mg Ozempic pen has never been sold here. DIN 02523930 was approved on January 4, 2022 and is still listed as approved, not marketed.
• The original 1.5 mL starter pen (DIN 02471477) went dormant on July 24, 2026. Two newer 8-dose pens approved in November 2025 were not on sale either.

So the label allows 2 mg, but the strongest Ozempic pen a Canadian pharmacy stocks is the 1 mg pen. Wegovy has a multi-dose pen for every step, 0.25 mg through 2.4 mg, each holding four weekly doses with needles in the box^4,1.

You may also have read about a Wegovy dose of 7.2 mg on a foreign website. The Canadian monograph stops at 2.4 mg, and no 7.2 mg dose is authorized in Canada^1,4.

The pens also differ in a few day-to-day rules. Ozempic gives you up to 5 days to take a missed dose; Wegovy says to take it only if your next dose is at least 2 days away^2,1. Both keep for up to 8 weeks after first use, either below 30°C or in the fridge^2,1.

Wegovy vs Ozempic for weight loss: what the trials show

Wegovy’s 2.4 mg dose takes off more weight than Ozempic’s 1 mg dose. Only one trial has tested both doses side by side, and it enrolled people with type 2 diabetes.

STEP 2: the one trial that tested both doses

STEP 2 enrolled 1,210 adults with type 2 diabetes and a BMI of 27 or more. They were split at random into three equal groups: semaglutide 2.4 mg, semaglutide 1.0 mg or a dummy shot. Each group injected once a week for 68 weeks and followed a diet and activity program.

Neither the patients nor the doctors knew who got what⁷. The paper itself describes 1.0 mg as the dose approved for diabetes, so this is as close to Wegovy against Ozempic as the evidence gets.

The journal’s main result compared 2.4 mg with placebo: weight fell 9.6% against 3.4% at 68 weeks⁷. The abstract does not report the 1.0 mg group’s weight change, so we took all three groups from the results Novo Nordisk posted on ClinicalTrials.gov⁸:

STEP 2, 68 weeks (observed averages)	Wegovy dose, 2.4 mg	Ozempic dose, 1.0 mg	Placebo
Average change in body weight	−9.9%	−7.2%	−3.3%
Lost at least 5% of body weight	267 of 388 (69%)	217 of 380 (57%)	107 of 376 (28%)
Any stomach or bowel side effect	63.5%	57.5%	34.3%

Weight figures are observed averages that count people whether or not they kept taking the drug⁸. Side-effect rates come from the journal paper⁷.

What the table tells us. The higher dose added about 2.7 points of weight loss. For someone who starts at 100 kg, that is roughly 2.7 kg more, which is our arithmetic on trial averages and not a forecast for you.

The extra weight loss came with a few more stomach complaints. And Novo Nordisk, which makes both brands, paid for the trial⁷.

Ozempic’s own trials measure blood sugar, not weight

Ozempic’s Canadian trials were built around A1C, and weight was a side result. The clearest dose test is SUSTAIN FORTE, which put 961 adults with type 2 diabetes on Ozempic 1 mg or 2 mg for 40 weeks. Weight fell 5.6 kg on 1 mg and 6.4 kg on 2 mg, and A1C dropped 1.9 and 2.1 points².

For people without diabetes, the Wegovy dose has the stronger record. In STEP 1, adults on 2.4 mg lost 14.9% of their body weight over 68 weeks, against 2.4% on placebo⁹.

We found no large trial that tested Ozempic’s 1 mg or 2 mg doses for weight in people without diabetes. The pattern across these studies points one way: more semaglutide, more weight lost, and a bit more stomach trouble.

Can you use Ozempic for weight loss in Canada?

Some prescribers do write Ozempic for weight. That is off-label use: the drug is authorized in Canada, but not for that reason, and Health Canada never reviewed Ozempic as a weight-loss treatment³.

We are not recommending it. Here is what that choice means if it comes up:

• A lower dose than the weight trials used. The strongest Ozempic pen on sale delivers 1 mg⁴, and in STEP 2 that dose took off less weight than 2.4 mg⁸.
• Your drug plan may say no. A plan that pays for Ozempic is paying for diabetes treatment. Ask your plan whether it needs a diabetes diagnosis before you count on coverage.
• Generic Ozempic is in the same spot. Apo-Semaglutide and the other diabetes generics carry the same label, so weight-loss use is off-label too⁴.
• Wegovy exists for this. If weight is the reason you want semaglutide, the brand authorized for it is Wegovy¹. Our guide to getting a prescription for a weight-loss injection covers who qualifies and how the visit works.

Wegovy vs Ozempic side effects

Because the drug is the same, so are the warnings. Both monographs open with a boxed warning about thyroid C-cell tumours found in rodents.

Both rule out anyone with a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer or MEN 2. And both say to stop at least 2 months before a planned pregnancy^2,1.

How often side effects show up depends on the dose and on who is taking it:

• Ozempic, in diabetes trials: nausea in 17.0% of people on 0.5 mg and 19.9% on 1 mg, against 6.3% on comparison treatments².
• Wegovy, in the STEP 1 to 3 weight trials: nausea in 44%, diarrhea in 30% and vomiting in 24%, against 16%, 16% and 6.3% on placebo¹.

Those numbers come from different trials with different people, so they are not a fair head-to-head. STEP 2 is, and it showed a smaller gap: stomach or bowel side effects in 63.5% on 2.4 mg and 57.5% on 1.0 mg⁷. In Ozempic’s diabetes trials, most of the nausea, vomiting and diarrhea came during the dose climb².

Both labels also flag eye problems in people with type 2 diabetes^2,1. The Ozempic label puts a number on it. In a 2-year trial of people with type 2 diabetes and high heart risk, diabetic eye complications hit 3.0% on Ozempic and 1.8% on placebo.

The added risk was larger in people who already had eye disease². If you have diabetic retinopathy, ask how your eyes will be checked. For a line-by-line side-effect table on semaglutide’s full weight dose, see our Mounjaro vs Ozempic page.

Wegovy vs Ozempic cost in Canada

Ozempic costs less per pen than Wegovy, and diabetes generics cost much less again. Wegovy’s price does not change with the strength. These are cash prices for one pen, with the pharmacy’s dispensing fee, before insurance¹¹.

Wegovy, Ozempic and generic semaglutide cash prices in Canada, one pen

Brand (use in Canada)	Dose	What you get	Cash price	Basis
Ozempic (diabetes)	0.25 or 0.5 mg	1 pen, 4 weekly doses	$253–339	Estimated
Ozempic (diabetes)	1 mg	1 pen, 4 weekly doses	$262–325	Audited at some chains, rest estimated
Ozempic (diabetes)	2 mg	Approved, never sold in Canada	No price	Approved 2022, not marketed (Health Canada DPD, 2026-11-12)
Apo-Semaglutide (generic) (diabetes)	up to 1 mg	1 pen, 4 weekly doses	$92–123	Audited at 5 chains, rest estimated
Wegovy (weight)	any strength	1 pen, 4 weekly doses	$380–507	Audited at Costco, Walmart, London Drugs, Rexall and Shoppers; estimated elsewhere
Sevmia (generic Wegovy) (weight)	1 mg only	Not sold yet	No price	Approved, not marketed

What the numbers mean for your budget:

• The audited gap is about $118 to $193 a pen. At Costco, the cheapest audited chain, Wegovy came to $380.49 and an Ozempic 1 mg pen to $262.49. At Shoppers, the dearest audited chain, the figures were $506.99 and $313.99¹¹. That spread is our subtraction from those audited rows.
• Over a year the gap grows. Thirteen four-week pens at the Costco prices come to about $4,946 for Wegovy and $3,412 for Ozempic 1 mg. That is our arithmetic, before any plan pays a share.
• Treat the Ozempic 2 mg row as a model. It is an estimate from list prices, and the 2 mg pen itself was not on the market in November 2026^11,4.
• Apo-Semaglutide is the cheapest semaglutide on shelves, at about $92 to $123 a pen, audited at five chains. It is labelled for diabetes and its pens stop at 1 mg^11,4.
• Sevmia has no price because it has not been sold yet⁴.

Will your drug plan cover Wegovy or Ozempic?

Ozempic has the easier path to coverage, because plans treat it as a diabetes drug. Wegovy’s road to public plans stalled in 2025.

Start with Ozempic. In May 2019, the national drug review committee recommended that public plans pay for it in type 2 diabetes, with clinical criteria. That committee sat within CADTH, now called Canada’s Drug Agency¹².

B.C. PharmaCare then made Ozempic a Limited Coverage benefit in December 2020, once the provinces’ joint price talks with Novo Nordisk had reached a deal¹². Each province runs its own list, so check your provincial formulary for the current criteria.

Wegovy went the other way. Canada’s Drug Agency gave it a conditional yes in July 2025.

The yes was limited to adults with a BMI of 27 or more and established heart disease, at a lower price¹³. Novo Nordisk then declined to enter price talks for public plans, so Wegovy stayed off them¹⁴.

Private and workplace plans set their own rules. Before you fill either brand, ask your insurer three things:

• Is this exact brand on the drug list, and in which category?
• Does the plan exclude drugs for weight management even when it covers diabetes drugs?
• Will my prescriber need to send a form with my diagnosis?

If you do not have diabetes, do not assume a plan that pays for Ozempic will pay for your prescription. Get the answer in writing. Our weight-loss injection guide has a longer checklist.

Is there a generic Wegovy or generic Ozempic in Canada?

Generic Ozempic, yes. Generic Wegovy, approved but not sold.

Dr. Reddy’s put its semaglutide pens on the market on May 6, 2026, and Apo-Semaglutide followed on May 14. Aspen and Sandoz versions were approved later in 2026 but were not marketed as of November 12^4,3. All of them copy Ozempic, so all carry a type 2 diabetes label and stop at 1 mg⁴.

Sevmia, from Apotex, is the only generic semaglutide with a weight-management label. Health Canada issued its notice of compliance on June 29, 2026. Its one pen holds 4 mg and delivers 1 mg doses, so it cannot reach Wegovy’s 2.4 mg maintenance dose.

On November 12, 2026, its DIN was still listed as approved, not marketed^4,3. Eleven more generic semaglutide filings were waiting for Health Canada as of September 30, 2026¹⁵.

Which one should you ask your prescriber about?

Pick by your main goal. If it is blood sugar, the Ozempic label was written for you.

If it is weight, Wegovy’s was. A few situations sharpen the choice:

• You have type 2 diabetes and need better blood sugar. Ozempic or a diabetes generic. The label fits, and your plan is more likely to help^2,12.
• You have type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease. Ozempic carries the kidney-outcome indication².
• You have type 2 diabetes, a BMI of 27 or more, and weight is the bigger worry. Wegovy’s label covers you too, and STEP 2 favoured its dose for weight^1,8.
• You do not have diabetes and want to lose weight. Wegovy is the semaglutide brand authorized for that¹.
• You have heart disease and no diabetes. Wegovy has the heart-attack indication for you¹.
• You are 12 to 17. Wegovy only. Ozempic is not indicated for anyone under 18^1,2.
• You have MASH with moderate to advanced liver scarring. Wegovy, under its conditional approval¹.
• Money is the hard limit. Apo-Semaglutide costs the least, but its label is diabetes and its pens top out at 1 mg^11,4.
• You want the biggest average weight loss of any option. Neither brand. Tirzepatide beat semaglutide in a head-to-head trial¹⁶, and our ranking of the best GLP-1 for weight loss shows how every option compares.

Not sure which group you fall in? Try the one-minute quiz for a starting point to bring to your appointment.

Switching between Ozempic and Wegovy

You can switch either way with a new prescription. Neither Canadian monograph includes a conversion chart from one brand to the other^2,1, so your prescriber decides which step you start on.

A few things to sort out first:

• Stop one before you start the other. Never overlap two semaglutide products¹.
• Plan for stomach upset. Going from 1 mg to 2.4 mg means doses your body has not had yet. In STEP 2, the higher dose brought more gut side effects⁷.
• Call your plan. Coverage for one brand tells you nothing about the other.
• Watch the pen strength. Each Wegovy pen delivers a single strength, so every step up needs a new pen¹.

How we compared Wegovy and Ozempic

We read both Canadian product monographs in full: Ozempic, authorized July 13, 2026, and Wegovy, authorized October 2, 2026^2,1. On November 12, 2026, we looked up every Ozempic, Wegovy and generic semaglutide DIN in Health Canada’s drug and approval databases^4,3.

STEP 2 figures come from the Lancet paper and the registry results, and we say which is which. Prices come from a single dataset that labels each row audited or estimated¹¹.

No one on our team gave either drug to anyone, and a pharmacist has not yet checked this page, so it shows “Pharmacist review pending”. You can read how we grade the evidence or see where semaglutide sits in our full rankings.

This page is general information, not medical advice. Talk with your doctor, nurse practitioner or pharmacist before you start, stop or switch semaglutide.