Drug shortages homepage

Welcome to Drug Shortages Canada, the website for mandatory reporting of drug shortages and discontinuations by market authorization holders. Anyone can search the database of shortage and discontinuation reports. More information can be found on the About & Resources Page.

Early reporting of shortages and discontinuations provides Health Canada, provincial/territorial governments, drug supply chain stakeholders, and health professionals details needed to help them monitor and manage supply. Shortages can be caused by many factors. Some last longer and are more complex than others. Because companies have to report every time they cannot fully meet demand, not all of the reports on this site are cause for concern at the patient level. Most are successfully managed before they impact patients.

The shortage database has a flag that indicates ones that are Tier 3 drug shortages, which are those that could potentially have the highest impact on Canada's drug supply and health care system. A Tier 3 designation is decided by the Tier Assignment Committee (TAC), composed of federal and provincial/territorial governments, healthcare professionals, and industry stakeholders.

Ensuring people can get the medicines they need is a top priority for Health Canada. Health Canada works closely with many partners to prevent shortages, mitigate their impacts, and help resolve them when they occur.

If you would like to know more about shortages like why they happen, how long they last, the actions being taken to reduce impacts on Canadians, and actions you can take if a drug you use is in shortage, please consult the information on Canada.ca.

Below are the newest shortage and discontinuation reports and updates to existing ones.

Drug pills

LEGEND

!!T3 denotes an actual Tier 3 shortage/discontinuation

!T3 denotes an anticipated Tier 3 shortage/discontinuation

Shortage Reports

Brand name Company Name Status Strength Update Date Updated View Report
PMS-AZITHROMYCIN PHARMASCIENCE INC Actual shortage 250MG Updated Report 2024-10-17 240607
PMS-TELMISARTAN PHARMASCIENCE INC Actual shortage 80MG Updated Report 2024-10-17 238968
PMS-TELMISARTAN PHARMASCIENCE INC Actual shortage 40MG Updated Report 2024-10-17 237394
PMS-DONEPEZIL PHARMASCIENCE INC Actual shortage 5MG Updated Report 2024-10-17 232414
PMSC-METFORMIN PHARMASCIENCE INC Actual shortage 500MG Updated Report 2024-10-17 230876
PMS-VALACYCLOVIR PHARMASCIENCE INC Actual shortage 1000MG Updated Report 2024-10-17 222393
PMS-VALPROIC ACID E.C. PHARMASCIENCE INC Actual shortage 500MG Updated Report 2024-10-17 153637
PMS-ESCITALOPRAM PHARMASCIENCE INC Actual shortage 20MG Updated Report 2024-10-17 204508
PMS-ESCITALOPRAM PHARMASCIENCE INC Actual shortage 20MG Updated Report 2024-10-17 204505
APO-PERINDOPRIL APOTEX INC Actual shortage 2MG Updated Report 2024-10-17 240586

Discontinuation Reports

Brand name Company Name Status Strength Update Date Updated View Report
HUMALOG ELI LILLY CANADA INC To be discontinued 100UNIT Updated Report 2024-10-15 224347
TD ADSORBED SANOFI PASTEUR LIMITED Discontinued 5LF 2LF Updated Report 2024-10-15 206909
PEDIACEL SANOFI PASTEUR LIMITED To be discontinued 5MCG 20MCG 30MCG 10MCG 32UNIT 8UNIT 40UNIT 5LF 15LF 20MCG 3MCG Updated Report 2024-10-15 206912
VICTOZA NOVO NORDISK CANADA INC To be discontinued 6MG New Report 2024-10-15 240246
XULTOPHY NOVO NORDISK CANADA INC To be discontinued 3.6MG 100UNIT New Report 2024-10-15 240243