Conservatives demand probe into Ottawa’s loss of $20M in pharmaceutical products

OTTAWA — Conservative health critic Dan Mazier said Thursday he intends to ask for a committee investigation to find out how the Public Health Agency of Canada lost more than $20-million worth of pharmaceutical products from the national emergency stockpile.

The loss was mentioned as a single line item in the 2025 public accounts, the audited financial statements of the federal government for the 2024-25 fiscal year.

In response to queries from The Canadian Press, a Public Health Agency of Canada spokesperson said in a media statement the loss resulted from what the agency called a “temperature deviation.”

Late Thursday, the agency responded to further questions, saying there were temperature fluctuations in some freezer units in December 2024, and that an internal investigation found that was the result of “several factors.” It said a volume of one therapeutic drug was lost.

It did not say what type of therapeutic drug was involved or how much was lost, nor did it cite the factors that contributed to the loss.

“While the Public Health Agency of Canada cannot disclose any further details concerning assets held by the (stockpile), including types and volumes, due to national security implications, we can confirm that the identified losses will not compromise the (stockpile’s) capacity to respond to public health events,” the agency’s initial statement said.

The Public Health Agency of Canada said it does have a quality management system in place to prevent and identify such incidents and “implement corrective actions with a view to preventing reoccurence.”

Mazier said he’s going to call for an investigation into what happened at the House of Commons health committee.

“Losing $20 million in pharmaceuticals from Canada’s emergency stockpile is shocking and unacceptable, and the fact the Liberals tried to hide this from Canadians is even worse,” Mazier said in a written statement.

A spokesperson for Health Minister Marjorie Michel said she is aware of a “technical malfunction” at the emergency stockpile.

“While this incident is unfortunate, PHAC is ensuring the (stockpile) is equipped appropriately to fulfil its mission, including protecting critical vaccine supply. Minister Michel is also working with the agency to ensure such an incident can be prevented in the future,” Guillaume Bertrand said in an email.

In a statement, interim NDP Leader Don Davies called the loss “clearly irresponsible” and said it points to problems with the Liberal government’s “plan to cut public sector capacity.”

“This is fiscally inappropriate and jeopardizes public health. We need answers as to how this happened,” Davies said.

The national stockpile is a network of warehouses across the country where the government stores medical supplies, vaccines and emergency response equipment.

First established during the Cold War, the stockpile was initially intended to respond to a nuclear emergency.

Since then, it has been adapted to respond to outbreaks of diseases, including SARS and COVID-19, and natural disasters like hurricanes and floods, bioterrorism attacks and other emergencies.

It came under intense scrutiny in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic after it was reported that personal protective equipment supplies held in the stockpile — including millions of N95 masks — had expired and were not replaced years before the pandemic began.

At the time, Canada and countries around the world were competing to buy massive amounts of gloves, masks and other equipment amid global shortages.

The federal government launched a review of the stockpile system in response to the public outcry. That resulted in a comprehensive management plan released in July 2024.

The review found the stockpile warehouses had aging physical infrastructure and outdated information management systems. In response, the government leased and retrofitted a modern warehouse facility with specialized infrastructure to manage biomedical equipment.

The comprehensive management plan said as of 2023, the stockpile included ventilators, life support machines, masks and other personal protective equipment, and diagnostic equipment. It also had mini emergency triage clinics, supplies like generators and blankets, and vaccines and drugs.

The stockpile grew to fill 20 warehouses with some 1.7 million square feet of space in 2023, up from eight warehouses in 2019. During the pandemic, the stockpile grew to over three million square feet of warehouse space.

The comprehensive management plan also noted that the stockpile had started to donate medical materials before they were set to expire.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2025.

Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press