Question Period Note: CANADA'S INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE RESPONSE TO COVID-19

Canada is committed to a robust international effort to stop COVID-19 and to address its devastating health, social, economic and security impacts on people around the world.

• Canada has committed over $2.6B to the global COVID-19 response since February 2020.
• Canada has also made an additional $1B available for International Monetary Fund COVID-19-related loans.
• Canada has committed to donate the equivalent of at least 200M COVID-19 vaccine doses to the COVAX Facility by the end of 2022.

· The COVID-19 pandemic is a global threat that does not recognize borders and will only be overcome through coordinated global action.
· Canada is committed to supporting equitable global access to COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics and is working hand in hand with the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator and the COVAX Facility in support of this.
· In line with the Feminist International Assistance Policy, Canada's response focuses on the world's poorest and most marginalized, and considers the differentiated needs of women and girls.
· The emergence of COVID-19 has also underscored the need to reinforce and deliver on joint commitments by the international community to strengthen health systems and reinforce prevention, detection, emergency planning and preparedness capabilities worldwide.
· Canada's $2.6 billion commitment to the global COVID-19 response includes $1.3 billion for the ACT-Accelerator (of which $545 million is for COVAX), over $740 million in humanitarian and development assistance, and adapted funding arrangements with organizations to address COVID-19 needs worth over $555 million.
· The COVAX Facility is a global pooled procurement and mobilization mechanism for COVID-19 vaccines. It has 2 windows: a self-financing window for upper-middle- and high- income economies and an Advance Market Commitment (AMC) window to support low- and lower-middle- income economies. As of November 16, the Facility has delivered more than 500 million doses to 144 participants.
· At the G20 Summit, the Prime Minister announced Canada's commitment to donate the equivalent of at least 200 million doses to the COVAX Facility by the end of 2022. The Prime Minister also announced an investment of up to $15 million to COVAX Manufacturing Task Force partners.
· In addition to the 50 million in-kind surplus doses pledged as part of the commitment to COVAX, Canada has also donated 700,000 surplus doses bilaterally, to countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

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