The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) threw away around 5.4 million N95 masks just a year before the COVID-19 pandemic hit—at which time Canada experienced a shortage of the masks—according to an internal audit.
The largest-scale disposal of N95 masks came after PHAC closed three private medical supply warehouses in 2019, says a federal report titled “Audit of the Security of National Emergency Strategic Stockpile Warehouse Facilities” and obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter.
PHAC also threw away 2.4 million surgical masks and over 1 million medical gloves.
When pandemic lockdowns began in March 2020, PHAC hurried to contract three new temporary warehouse facilities where it could store medical supplies to make up for the closures a year earlier, according to the audit. The audit said there was “significant dependence on these warehouse facilities.”
“Our goal in situating where and how many warehouses we have is driven first of all by being able to reach all the communities in Canada within 24 hours,” she said. PHAC had nine warehouses, but with changes in infrastructure over the years, “we were able to have the same reach with facilities in six cities.”
Closing down the three warehouses would save PHAC about $900,000 in leasing costs, according to a briefing note viewed by Blacklock’s. Thornton said, however, budget was not the first concern. “Closing down the warehouses was just dependent on how much space we needed and where they were.”
Aside from the pre-pandemic purge of masks, some N95s and other personal protective equipment (PPE) also went to waste during the pandemic. Ontario’s auditor general found that, between February and June 2022 alone, the province threw out $66 million in PPE because it was damaged, expired, or obsolete. The province also wasted about 3.4 million doses of the vaccine.
Another 100 million units of N95 masks, exceeding anticipated demand and worth roughly $81 million, will expire by March 2030.
