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Starting today (Wednesday), free rapid antigen tests (RATs) are being handed out at select grocery stores and pharmacies in Ontario.
Best check by phone to see if kits are available yet at these locations. A quick check by BayToday indicated that not all sites have the kits or even know when they are getting them.
Ontario will be distributing 5.5 million rapid antigen tests each week for eight weeks. Over 2,300 participating grocery and pharmacy locations will provide tests while supplies last, with a limit of one box of five tests per household.
Participating retailers will receive additional supplies each week and have the ability to determine how tests are distributed in order to best serve the community, including through appointment bookings, at checkout, or through online orders. If your participating location is out of stock you'll have to check back with them.
Here's where to get the free kits in North Bay.
- Shoppers Drug Mart 2025 Cassells Street
- Shoppers Drug Mart 66 Josephine Street
- Shoppers Drug Mart 276 Lakeshore Drive
- Sobeys 1899 Algonquin Avenue
- Walmart Northgate 1500 Fisher Street, Unit 102
- Algonquin Pharmasave-Rx 1221 Algonquin Avenue
- Parker’s Your Independent Grocer North Bay 1 Laurentian Avenue
- Food Basics 1901 Cassells St
- Marshall Park Pharmacy 104-524 Lakeshore Drive
- Metro 390 Lakeshore Drive
- Pharma Plus 1205 Fisher Street
Powassan
- Powassan Drug Mart 496 Main Street
Sturgeon Falls
- Aubin Pharmasave 220A King Street
- Metro 203 Front Street
- Northern Light Remedy’s Rx 1-12006 Highway 17 East
- Rx Drug Mart King Street 228 King Street
Haileybury
- Smallman Pharmacy 368 Main Street
Huntsville
- Your Independent Grocer Huntsville 131 Howland Drive
- Huntsville’s Hometown IDA 10 Main Street East
- Metro 70 King William Street
- Pharmasave 29 Main Street East
- Shoppers Drug Mart 51 King William Street
- Walmart Unit #10, 111 Howland Dr
New Liskeard
- Chartrand’s Your Independent Grocer 55 Scott Street
- Findlays Drug Store 247 Whitewood Avenue
- Food Basics 883303 Highway 11B & 65
Parry Sound
- Shoppers Drug Mart 90 Bowes Street
- Sobeys 25 Pine Drive
- Walmart 1 Pine Drive
A complete list of where the tests are available can be found here.
Most of the tests will be available for in-store pick-up. Free rapid tests provided by the government are intended for personal use. The province can fine any businesses and individuals who may be in breach of the government's emergency order which prohibits charging unfair prices for necessary goods.
Rapid antigen tests are easy to use at home. You can either test yourself or have someone help you by following the instructions that come with a kit or watching the video How to use a COVID‑19 antigen test at home.
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