Question Period Note: National Emergancy Strategic Stockpile Management

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) manages the National Emergency Strategic Stockpile (NESS) which supports provinces and territories as a surge capacity when their own resources are insufficient. The NESS continuously works with provincial and territorial governments to assess the ongoing needs for priority medical assets to proactively identify and mitigate gaps as required.

PHAC remains committed to supporting Canadians facing public health emergencies and events through timely and equitable access to safe, effective, and quality medical assets.
Assets managed by the NESS are deployed in response to urgent requests for assistance from provinces and territories.
PHAC works closely with federal, provincial, and territorial partners along with industry to assess ongoing surge requirements and to proactively identify and mitigate gaps, as required, including the monitoring of key commodities that may be vulnerable to supply chain issues.
IF PRESSED ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF A COMPREHENSIVE MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR THE FUTURE OF THE NESS
PHAC is advancing the development of a comprehensive management plan for the NESS as recommended by the Office of the Auditor General.
PHAC has initiated engagement with its provincial and territorial partners and has begun development of the plan, which will provide a roadmap for systemic and agile transformation of the NESS with overall objectives of improving readiness to respond to future pandemics and other emergencies and driving continuous improvement in the management of the NESS.
In parallel, NESS continues to identify and implement incremental improvements stemming from lessons learned in response to COVID-19, mpox and other public health emergencies, such as the development of a modern Warehouse Management System to track and manage NESS assets through their lifecycle, and a NESS portal to facilitate information sharing on NESS assets, including upcoming deployments of supplies with provinces, territories, and other Government departments.
IF PRESSED ON ACTIONS TO ADDRESS GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN CHALLENGES
PHAC is committed to working with federal, provincial, and territorial partners, along with industry to monitor global supply chains, including exploring opportunities to mitigate supply vulnerabilities and diversify supply through a strategic and sustainable made-in-Canada market.
To support security of supply for N95 respirators and medical masks, the NESS maintains two multi-year domestic contracts with 3M Canada and AMD Medicom.
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) is the lead for advancing Canada’s Biomanufacturing and Life Sciences Strategy. The Strategy aims to rebuild Canada’s domestic biomanufacturing sector by focusing on both quick strategic actions and a long-term vision.
PHAC is working closely with ISED on considerations related to public health priorities to inform investments and further implementation of the Strategy.

NESS Mandate
The fundamental basis underpinning federal emergency management and the NESS is that provincial, territorial and local governments are prepared to respond in a reasonable manner to the most common emergencies in their jurisdictions.
As such, the federal government’s role in facilitating access to emergency health assets is twofold:
• To provide surge capacity support to provinces and territories at their request when their own resources are not sufficient
• As the sole provider of certain niche assets, for example, to provide costly and rarely used vaccines or antidotes, required for rare public health emergencies
NESS Funding
Prior to 2020-21, the NESS had a budget of approximately $4.7M per year.
From the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to end of March 2023, PHAC spent $5 billion on the procurement of over 4 billion units of medical supplies and equipment (e.g., personal protective equipment, vaccine ancillary supplies, biomedical equipment, sanitizers, and disinfectants) to stock the NESS to support the needs of provinces and territories.
Budget 2020: $64.9M per year for the procurement of niche medical countermeasures for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats.
Budget 2023: $80 million over two years starting in 2024-25 ($60 million in 2024-25; $20 million in 2025-26) to help sustain core capacities implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic that are needed to support day-to-day operations, and advancement of the work required to define long-term needs and resources.
Global Supply Challenges – COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in severe shortages of key medical equipment and supplies required to support Canada’s domestic response efforts. To manage Canda’s response, the collective buying power of the Government of Canada was leveraged on behalf of provinces and territories. This included NESS bulk procurement of personal protective equipment, biomedical equipment such as ventilators, as well as vaccine ancillary supplies.
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed significant supply chain risks across all levels of government and a lack of domestic self-sufficiency. Building strategic and sustainable domestic manufacturing capacity is a key lesson learned as articulated in Government of Canada initiatives such as the Biomanufacturing and Life Sciences Strategy as led by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada.
OAG Audit
The Office of the Auditor General (OAG) undertook a performance audit on the Government of Canada’s ability to meet the needs of provinces and territories, and the healthcare sector, for PPE and medical devices to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The audit period covered January 2020 through August 31, 2020, and implicated the PHAC, PSPC, and HC.
Overall, the OAG found that PHAC, PSPC, and HC helped to meet the needs of provincial and territorial governments for PPE and medical devices during the pandemic. The report does however highlight that as a result of long-standing unaddressed problems with the systems and practices in place to manage the NESS, PHAC was not as prepared as it could have been to respond to the needs of provinces and territories for PPE and medical devices.
PHAC and HC have both committed to addressing the recommendations from the OAG as per the set deadlines on the Management Response Action Plan.

The NESS contains supplies that provinces and territories can request in emergencies, such as infectious disease outbreaks, natural disasters, and other public health events, when their own resources are exhausted or not immediately available. The NESS facilitates access to a variety of assets such as personal protective equipment (PPE); biomedical equipment (e.g. ventilators); niche pharmaceuticals; and social service supplies, such as beds and blankets.