OTTAWA -- The federal government says while the demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) has gone up, Canada is "keeping up" and closely monitoring the production of supplies from source to distribution.
Minister of Public Services and Procurement Anita Anand told reporters Thursday that Canada’s efforts to ramp up domestic production and streamline imports from overseas, namely China, is helping the country stay prepared.
"In addition to our international buying efforts, Canadian companies have responded on mass to our call out to suppliers," said Anand.
Irving Oil and Bauer, the well-known maker of hockey equipment, are among the companies that have added their names to the government’s long list of suppliers retooling their businesses to provide PPE to health-care workers and Canadians at large.
Anand said the government has also chartered six international flights that have arrived in Canada with key supplies. They expect the arrival of four more from China next week, carrying N95 respiratory masks.
"To date, we’ve received deliveries of more than 17 million surgical masks and as the prime minister said earlier this week, roughly 800,000 N95 masks were delivered to the provinces and territories last week and we expect 1.1 million to reach them this week," she said.
The minister’s director of communications told CTV News on Monday that the Ministry of Public Services and Procurement had signed agreements with two international firms to store supplies and manage on-the-ground logistics in China to prevent the interference of goods.
"Monitoring that supply chain from start to finish on the ground in China is a key priority for our ministry and our government and we will not stop until we have the supplies Canadians need,”"she said.
"We have a very solid team on the ground in China. We have been working very closely with Ambassador Barton but we’ve also retained private companies – Deloitte Canada and Bollore Canada – for example."
On whether Canada will be able to continue to meet the needs of provinces for increased PPE, particularly at long-term care homes, Anand says it’s “complex, but [the government] is managing under these very tight global conditions.”
