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
0.9% SODIUM CHLORIDE INJECTION FRESENIUS KABI CANADA LTD Resolved 900MG Updated Report 2024-10-09 236464
PROZAC CAPSULES 20MG ELI LILLY CANADA INC Resolved 20MG Updated Report 2024-10-09 220048
PROZAC CAPSULES 10MG ELI LILLY CANADA INC Resolved 10MG Updated Report 2024-10-09 220045
CYMBALTA ELI LILLY CANADA INC Resolved 60MG Updated Report 2024-10-09 220042
CYMBALTA ELI LILLY CANADA INC Resolved 30MG Updated Report 2024-10-09 220039
PMS-TENOFOVIR PHARMASCIENCE INC Resolved 300MG Updated Report 2024-10-09 227785
PMS-BUPRENORPHINE-NALOXONE PHARMASCIENCE INC Resolved 0.5MG 2MG Updated Report 2024-10-09 233605
VALACYCLOVIR SANIS HEALTH INC Actual shortage 500MG Updated Report 2024-10-09 220653
SERTRALINE SANIS HEALTH INC Actual shortage 100MG Updated Report 2024-10-09 233530
ESCITALOPRAM SANIS HEALTH INC Anticipated shortage 10MG Updated Report 2024-10-09 238396

Discontinuation Reports

Brand name Company Name Status Strength Update Date Updated View Report
FUZEON HOFFMANN-LA ROCHE LIMITED To be discontinued 108MG New Report 2024-10-07 239548
NYADERM TAROPHARMA, A DIVISION OF TARO PHARMACEUTICALS INC. Discontinued 25000UNIT Updated Report 2024-10-05 239427
RENVELA SANOFI-AVENTIS CANADA INC To be discontinued 2.4G New Report 2024-10-04 239436
RENVELA SANOFI-AVENTIS CANADA INC To be discontinued 0.8G New Report 2024-10-04 239433
SODIUM BICARBONATE INJECTION, USP FRESENIUS KABI CANADA LTD Discontinued 42MG New Report 2024-10-03 239180