Question Period Note: Global COVID-19 efforts

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• Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada has engaged with international partners bilaterally and multilaterally, through the G7, the G20, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to help inform our domestic response and to contribute to global efforts on fighting COVID-19.
• Canada has committed more than $2.9 billion to the global fight against the virus.
• The Prime Minister announced at the 2021 G20 Summit an investment of up to $15 million CAD to COVAX Manufacturing Task Force partners in support of establishing the South Africa Technology Transfer Hub. This initiative will help build capacity to enable the development and production of mRNA vaccines and technologies in the region.
• On May 12, 2022, during the Second Global COVID-19 Summit, the Prime Minister announced new funding of $732 million CAD for the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, which will bring Canada’s total contribution to the ACT-Accelerator to more than $2 billion CAD since the start of the pandemic.
• The Prime Minister announced that Canada will donate the equivalent of at least 200 million doses by the end of 2022. To date, Canada has donated the equivalent of more than 140 million doses.
• This includes both financial commitments to COVAX and surplus dose donations.
• As of October 30, 2022, over 23.3 million of the 50 million surplus doses Canada has donated to COVAX have been delivered to countries. Canada has also shared more than 3.76 million vaccine doses through direct, bilateral agreements with recipient countries.
• Canada has provided $50 million CAD to the Pan American Health Organization to support efforts to facilitate access to COVID-19 vaccines for those living in situations of vulnerability across the Caribbean and Latin America. Portions of this grant are being used to procure vaccine doses for countries through the Organization, which are in addition to Canada’s commitment to COVAX.
• Canadian messaging related to the importance of global collective efforts to complete the fight against COVID-19 were highlighted at meetings in Washington, D.C, in April, 2022.
• Canada highlighted its support for equitable access to vaccines through COVAX at the 75th World Health Assembly in May 2022.
• Canada continues to work with international partners to address barriers to equitable access to vaccines and to improve global capacity to manufacture them.
• On June 22, 2022, Canada announced $200 million CAD in funding for Canada's new Global Initiative for Vaccine Equity (CanGIVE), which is designed to increase vaccine confidence, enhance vaccine delivery and distribution, and support local vaccine production in 13 countries, most of them in Africa.

If Pressed – Donation of Surplus Vaccines
• Canada’s commitment to donating the equivalent of at least 200 million doses by the end of 2022 includes doses procured by Canada that were determined by Health Canada to be in excess of our domestic needs, financial support to COVAX for the procurement and delivery of doses, as well as potential future contributions and donations.

If Pressed – Findings from the International Pandemic Preparedness and Response Panel
• The Government of Canada welcomes the frank assessment and bold recommendations from the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response.
• We thank the Panel members for their efforts to understand how a localized outbreak became a global pandemic, and to assess how the international system responded.
• One of the Panel’s important conclusions is that the world was not prepared for the pandemic on a number of fronts. We know there are many lessons from this pandemic, which we are learning from to adjust our approach.
• Canada is working with our international partners to improve global cooperation so that we remain well-positioned and prepared to respond to future global health events.

Canada has participated in various multilateral and bilateral discussions at the WHO, G7, G20, and other tables on ways to finish the fight against COVID-19 and strengthen our collective capacities to prevent, prepare and respond to future health emergencies.

Canadian messages related to the importance of global collective efforts to complete the fight against COVID-19, including learning lessons from the pandemic, as well as sustainable financing for future pandemic preparedness and response, were highlighted by the Minister in meetings in Washington D.C, including with U.S. Secretary for Health and Human Services, senior officials at the World Bank, and the Director of the Pan-American Health Organization, during the Minister’s first international visit.

On November 18, 2021, the Prime Minister attended the North American Leaders Summit in Washington D.C. along with U.S. President Joseph Biden and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The three leaders agreed to several commitments, including re-envisioning and updating the North American Plan for Animal and Pandemic Influenza; shoring-up critical medical supply chains; supporting the Global Health Security Agenda; and continuing trilateral engagement under the North American Drug Dialogue to address the ongoing opioid overdose crisis. The Prime Minister also held his first in-person bilateral meeting with President Biden, and reaffirmed the commitments in the February 2021 Roadmap for a Renewed U.S.-Canada Partnership. The Prime Minister and President agreed to launch a Canada-U.S. Working Group on Supply Chains, tasked with producing a progress report in the next 120 days; and to develop a renewed vision for joint management of the border, applying lessons learned from the pandemic.

On September 22, 2021, Prime Minister Trudeau provided remarks at the Global COVID-19 Summit convened by U.S. President Biden on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly. Following the Summit, Canada has participated in a series of U.S.-convened COVID-19 international Ministerial meetings, including most recently a Foreign Ministers’ meeting on February 14, 2022, and a COVID-19 Health Ministers’ “Virtual Dialogue” on March 3, 2022. The U.S. co-hosted a second virtual Leader level Global Summit on May 12, 2022, along with Germany, Indonesia, Belize and Senegal with the main objectives being ambitious, timely and new commitments for 2022, along the themes of the summit, which include financing for vaccine coverage; delivery of tests and treatments; and global health security/pandemic prevention and preparedness.

Ministerial-level discussions have also contributed to enhancing bilateral relationships with key partners such as the U.S. and the EU. Germany has assumed the Presidency of the G7 for 2022. Germany has identified three key areas for the health track: 1) ending the COVID-19 pandemic and implementing the lessons learned; 2) tackling the nexus of climate change and health; and 3) combatting antimicrobial resistance. Under its Presidency, Germany will seek to ensure continuity of G7 work from previous years, as well as the implementation of measures previously adopted by the group. Overcoming the pandemic around the world is the most pressing objective, and the “G7 Pact for Pandemic Readiness”, focused on preparing for future health threats. Ministers met in person on May 19-20, 2022, in Berlin for the G7 Health Ministers’ Meeting. The remainder of the G7 Presidency will focus on implementing the commitments from the Ministerial Meeting.

Indonesia held the G20 Presidency for 2022. The year’s theme was Recover Together, Stronger Together. The agenda for the health track focused on Reshaping the Global Health Architecture. Canada has been working closely with our G20 partners to support the objectives of the Presidency: building resilience for the global health system, harmonizing global health protocol standards, and expanding global manufacturing and knowledge hubs for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. Canada’s work on this front has included participating in a pilot project to support the interoperability of proof of vaccination certificates at the international level. Canada will continue to support this work into 2023, as the Indonesian G20 presidency comes to an end. There will also be an opportunity to highlight priorities related to addressing financing for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response through the Financial Intermediary Fund, tuberculosis, One Health, and antimicrobial resistance. G20 Health Ministers met on October 27-28, 2022 in Bali, Indonesia. G20 Finance and Health Ministers are also scheduled to meet November 14th in advance of the Leaders Summit which will take place November 15-16.
In addition, senior and technical staff of the Health Portfolio have engaged with their counterparts in a variety of fora, both bilaterally and multilaterally, World Health Organization (WHO), the Pan American Health Organization, U.S. Centers for Disease, Global Health Security Initiative, the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network), to exchange information and best practices that have informed and enhanced Canada’s response to COVID-19.

Review and Lessons Learned from COVID-19
On May 12, 2021, the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response (IPPPR) published their final report and recommendations. The report concludes that the pandemic was a result of “failures and gaps in international and national responses” at every juncture of preparedness for, and response to, COVID-19. As a result, “February 2020 was a lost month when steps could have been taken to curtail the epidemic and forestall the pandemic.”
The IPPPR suggests that the failure of countries to respond was a combination of two things: “they did not sufficiently appreciate the threat and know how to respond”; and, “in the absence of certainty about how serious the consequences of this new pathogen would be, “wait and see” seemed less costly and consequential than concerted public health action.”

The IPPPR also notes that stronger leadership and better coordination at national, regional and international levels were needed to more effectively respond, and recommends a more focused and independent WHO, a pandemic treaty and a Senior Global Health Threats Council that would be led at the Head of State and Government level. The Panel also recommends greater investment in preparedness and stronger accountability mechanisms to spur action. They call for improved surveillance and for the WHO to have authority to rapidly publish information and to dispatch expert missions.

Canada has consistently supported a comprehensive evaluation and review process of the global response to COVID-19. Efforts to strengthen WHO and Member States preparedness and response capacities are being discussed in several international fora including the WHO, G7, G20, Global Health Security Initiative, Global Health Security Agenda and North American Plan for Animal and Pandemic Influenza. Canada recognizes the importance of continued bilateral and multilateral discussions on how to enhance health security and to effectively address risks.

75th World Health Assembly
The 75th World Health Assembly (WHA) was held May 22 to May 28, 2022. Minister Duclos was head of Canada’s delegation and had a strong bilateral program with counterparts as well as meeting with the Director General (DG) of the WHO, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who was re-elected to a second five-year term as DG.
Consistent with the theme of this WHA, “Health for peace, Peace for Health”, the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine was a dominant theme. WHO sustainable financing, the ongoing pandemic, and strengthening WHO preparedness and response have also emerged as key themes. This included decisions to start a forward process to negotiate amendments to the International Health Regulations (2005) and adopt an amendment to the regulations that reduces the time, from 24 months to 12, for these future amendments to enter into force. This will help make the instrument more agile, and ensure that future amendments that we agree to are implemented without delay.
In Canada’s view, amendments should be limited in scope and should address specific issues, challenges or gaps that are critical to supporting IHR implementation and compliance that cannot be effectively addressed otherwise.

• Since February 2020, Canada has participated in regular G7 Health Ministerial calls to discuss COVID-19, which has contributed to enhancing bilateral relationships with key countries such as the U.S.
• Canada participated in PAHO’s 30th Pan American Sanitary Conference (PASC) from September 26-30, with Dr. Theresa Tam as head of Canada’s delegation. At PASC, Dr. Tam participated as a panelist in a PAHO-led side-event related to mental health and lessons learned from COVID-19. Canada also contributed to the regional discussion, and adoption, of policies on various health issues, including strengthening national regulatory systems and a strategy for regional genomic surveillance for epidemic and pandemic preparedness and response.