This House of Commons Standing Committee on Health meeting studied Canadian pharmaceutical sovereignty. Witnesses appearing were Dr. Margot Burnell (President, Canadian Medical Association), Mary Hughes (Vice-President, Sales and Commercial Operations, Grifols Canada), Arianne Trudeau (Executive Director, Médicament Québec), Dr. Martyn Judson (Addictionist, as an individual), Dr. Mina Tadrous (Associate Professor, University of Toronto, as an individual), and Dr. Sadaf Faisal (Interim Vice-President, Public and Professional Affairs, Canadian Pharmacists Association).
Dr. Burnell stated that 68% of drugs used in Canada are imported and 83% of drug production activities occur abroad, causing serious patient harm through shortages. She recommended the federal government invest more in domestic medication production, partner with provinces to prioritize buying Canadian-made medical products, and strengthen the health workforce through team-based care and expanded training.
Mary Hughes described Grifols' partnership with Canadian Blood Services to build a domestic plasma ecosystem, including a $1 billion investment in a Montreal manufacturing facility, which has doubled Canada's domestic immunoglobulin supply from 15% to 33%. She stated that all immunoglobulin from Canadian plasma is exclusively for Canadian patients, while excess albumin by-product is sold abroad with Canadian Blood Services' agreement to offset immunoglobulin costs, and that there is no evidence linking plasma donation to two recent donor deaths in Winnipeg.
Arianne Trudeau emphasized that Médicament Québec has allocated over $24 million to 20 collaborative projects generating $18 million in return, and recommended that public investments in life sciences companies require a percentage be spent on academic partnerships. She also called for clear guidelines on pharmaceutical sovereignty, avoiding siloed projects, and treating pharmaceutical sovereignty as a health security priority rather than an afterthought.
Dr. Martyn Judson argued that safe supply programs prescribing short-acting opioids like hydromorphone keep patients locked in addiction and fuel diversion to the street, whereas long-acting opioid agonist therapies like methadone and Suboxone are more effective. He stated that the Liberal government's safe supply policies have been an unmitigated failure and that money would be better spent on treatment programs and developing human connections rather than prescribing addictive substances.
Dr. Mina Tadrous argued that true pharmaceutical sovereignty requires a precision-based, data-driven framework because not all drug shortages carry equal clinical consequence. He recommended identifying which medicines are most critical, at highest risk of shortage, and where Canada can gain economic value, and urged the committee to think beyond crisis response toward proactive resilience using evidence and data.
Dr. Sadaf Faisal noted that only 2% of active pharmaceutical ingredients are manufactured in Canada, with over 2,000 shortages reported annually, and that pharmacists spend up to 20% of their day managing shortages. She recommended strengthening domestic manufacturing with incentives like expedited regulatory reviews, establishing a list of high-risk medications, improving data systems for shortage monitoring, reforming procurement to value supply resilience over lowest cost, and enabling pharmacists to practise to the full extent of their training.
The committee adopted a routine motion, moved by Mr. Eyolfson, to allow up to three associate members per recognized party to receive notices and access the digital binder, with the provisions expiring September 25, 2026.
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