Quebec residents can now use a free French-language health assistant from Loblaw Companies Limited, expanding the retailer’s AI service to a province where it was not initially available.
The service is available through PC Santé and Pharmaprix apps and websites. Loblaw says it can help people understand symptoms, prepare for medical appointments and decide which health professional to contact. The retailer says it draws on more than 1,000 Canadian clinical sources it vetted for relevance and reliability.
“The goal is not to replace the expertise of health professionals,” said Nabil Chikh, Pharmaprix’s senior vice-president of Pharmacy. On privacy, Loblaw says PC Assistant conversations are kept in Canada and handled under the country’s privacy laws. The company’s consumer health privacy notice says exchanges may include details users provide, such as preferences and questions. Linking a digital pharmacy account for tailored responses requires users’ express consent and authorization, according to the notice.
The product page says users can connect a health record so responses draw on prescription and health details, or ask the assistant to book appointments with pharmacists and other health professionals.
To describe the need it sees, Loblaw cited a Harris Poll Canada survey commissioned by PC Santé. Conducted July 29 to 31, 2026, the poll covered 1,535 Canadian adults, including a weighted Quebec sample of 363. The company reported that 48% of Quebec respondents trusted health information from AI tools, compared with 40% nationally. Among Quebec participants who had searched online for health information during the previous year, 33% said they often or always were unsure what to do or whom to contact. Loblaw has said the assistant is intended to help users sort through online health information and identify possible next steps.
Loblaw announced an English-language rollout in most provinces Sept. 10, saying Quebec and New Brunswick would follow later in the fall.
