Question Period Note: COVID-10 Screening and Testing

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• Health Canada (HC) and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) have worked closely with the Provinces and Territories (PTs), federal organizations, as well as non-profit organizations, such as the Canadian chambers of commerce, Canadian Red Cross, and pharmacies, to distribute COVID-19 rapid tests and self tests.
• The Government has made significant investments to support rapid testing needs in every region of the country to assist with the COVID-19 pandemic response.
• Testing remains an important tool of a layered approach to empower Canadians to take personal responsibility and manage individual risk. In 2022 alone, our Government provided over 570M COVID-19 testing devices to support PTs, with channels also supporting small businesses, community organisations and other Canadians in need.
• As a result of federal action, Canada is well-prepared, including for potential resurgence. Provinces and territories have over 200 million tests in stock, and there are 50 million tests in a federal reserve to respond to any future resurgence.
• Our priority is to continue supporting Canadians and our overall preparedness to respond to COVID-19 by ensuring the widespread distribution of tests across the country working with our provincial and territorial partners.
IF PRESSED ON THE EFFICIENCY OF RAPID TESTS WITH NEW VARIANTS …
• The Government is closely monitoring variants and is working with PTs, manufacturers, international regulators, and the World Health Organization (WHO) to assess the potential impact of any new variants on the effectiveness of approved tests.
• Current evidence indicates that authorized tests continue to be effective in diagnosing COVID-19. Companies with authorized tests have provided HC evidence demonstrating their products’ effectiveness.
IF PRESSED ON TEST EXPIRY …
• Typically, tests with the shortest shelf life are shipped first. When ordering tests, HC prioritized the procurement of tests with longer shelf-life.
• The inventory life cycle of the rapid testing devices procured under the federal testing initiatives is closely monitored to ensure that tests are not wasted and that value for money is maximized.
IF PRESSED AS TO WHY CANADA CONTINUES TO PROVIDE FREE RAPID TEST …
• By providing frequent and timely information, rapid tests remain an important tool to enable Canadians to take responsibility and to manage their individual risks.
• International partners including the US, Germany, Australia, and Japan have ended or are planning to end free distribution of rapid tests. Canada has also transitioned to a more sustainable management of COVID-19 and has completed shipments to PTs and businesses.
• The government will continue to supply rapid tests to PTs through the Federal Strategic Reserve as required.
• The government will continue to support the free distribution of rapid tests to vulnerable populations via the Canadian Red Cross until March 2023.

Testing remains an important tool to empower people in Canada to take personal responsibility and manage individual risk by providing them with frequent, timely information.

Procurement and Distribution of Tests to Provinces and Territories

The Government of Canada has been a leader in funding, procuring, and distributing rapid tests through multiple channels across Canada, and has been providing rapid tests to provinces and territories since October 2020. In total, since the beginning of the pandemic, the Government of Canada has ordered over 811M rapid tests, at a total cost of $5B.

In total since the beginning of the pandemic, the federal government has shipped 682M rapid tests to provinces and territories. These rapid antigen tests have supported the broader testing strategies that provinces and territories have implemented including for screening in hospitals and other health care settings, as well as for expanded school based testing, workplace screening, as well as community and general population testing.

A key priority of the Government of Canada is supporting domestic bio-manufacturing capacity for rapid tests. The government’s commitment to the bio-manufacturing sector is outlined in Budget 2021, which includes a $2.2 billion investment over the next seven years. The government also continues to authorize rapid tests from domestic manufacturers in order to enable domestic procurement for rapid antigen diagnostic capacity for future healthcare needs and pandemic preparedness.

Rapid Test Distribution Channels

PT per-capita allocation shipments were completed in December 2022 however, the government will continue to supply rapid tests to PTs through the Federal Strategic Reserve as required. The government will also continue to supply free rapid tests until March 2023 to members of vulnerable communities including Indigenous communities, northern, remote and isolated communities and other vulnerable communities through the Canadian Red Cross

Shipments to pharmacies was completed in September 2022 but rapid test distribution of that stock to small and medium enterprises will continue until the supply is exhausted (supply expected to last until Spring 2023).

July 29, 2022 was the last date for final rapid test orders for direct distribution to large organizations employing 200 people or more.

part of the Safe Restart Agreement (SRA), to further expand testing and contact tracing capacity, and the associated data management and information sharing systems, of which over $3 billion went directly to PTs and the remainder was made available to organizations across Canada to enhance testing capacity, including wastewater surveillance and clinical trials.
• The adoption of Bill C-8 and Bill C-10 provided Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada an additional $4.22 billion to support the procurement and distribution of rapid tests to help limit the spread of COVID-19 and keep Canadians safe.
• As of January 12, 2023, the Government of Canada has approved 43 point-of-care rapid tests, as well as 25 self-tests.
• Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Government of Canada has ordered over 811M rapid tests, at a total cost of $5B.
• During this period, the Government shipped 682M rapid tests to PTs, over 8.2M to large businesses, ~5.3M to pharmacies to support Small and Medium Enterprises, and ~6M to the Canadian Red Cross for Non-Governmental Organizations.
• Of the total shipments shared with PTs, over 571.5M were distributed in 2022 on a per capita basis.
• Shipments to pharmacies to support small- and medium-sized enterprises were completed in September 2022, with distribution continuing until the test supply is exhausted.
• The Government of Canada has supported national preparedness with over 200M tests now held in inventories across the country and the establishment of a federal reserve of 55M in the event that emergency support is needed. These inventories represent approximately 7 tests for every person in Canada.