From March 15th to March 19th our government will be celebrating the first ever Made in Canada Week to acknowledge the Canadian businesses and manufacturers who stepped up in the fight against COVID-19.

Almost a year ago our government put out a Call to Action to help meet the growing demand for medical supplies and PPE. The response has been amazing. At the start of the pandemic, Canada had virtually no domestic production of personal protective equipment, to date, over 6,500 Canadians companies have asked how they can help. Businesses, big and small retooled to produce hand sanitizers, face shields, medical gowns, and other supplies for our frontline workers.

A few Stats

  • Over 6,500 companies have responded to our Call to Action
  • According to Statistics Canada, over 27,300 Canadian companies are involved in PPE distribution as of December 2020
  • 2 industry-leading companies have established domestic respirator manufacturing facilities and will be supplying 45 million respirators per year to the Government of Canada, with additional capacity for contracts with other jurisdictions and clients (Medicom and 3M)
    • 12 more Canadian companies are authorized to manufacture N95/N99 equivalent respirators: Breath Medical Manufacturing, Advanced Medical Manufacturing Ltd., Alpha Medical Manufacturing Inc., Eternity Medical Equipment Manufactural Inc., Levitt-Safety Ltd. Dba Northern Light Technologies, Armfoam Inc., Precambrian Products Inc., Vitacore Industries Inc.
  • 5 domestic ventilator suppliers (CAE, Starfish, Ventilators for Canadians, Vexos, Thornhill). All have received Health Canada approval.
  • 14 different testing companies have received support through ISED programs16 domestic manufacturers produced almost 28 million gowns for the Government of Canada in response to emergency needs at the onset of the pandemic

Made in Canada Week is about recognizing the efforts from the past year as well as the important role Canada’s manufacturing sector will play going forward. Thank you to all the companies who have stepped up over the last year to protect Canadians.