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
DIAMICRON MR SERVIER CANADA INC Actual shortage 30MG Updated Report 2024-12-12 245310
LUNESTA SUMITOMO PHARMA CANADA, INC. Actual shortage 3MG Updated Report 2024-12-12 238550
CEFTRIAXONE SODIUM FOR INJECTION BP STERIMAX INC Actual shortage 2G Updated Report 2024-12-12 235273
GLYCOPYRROLATE INJECTION USP STERIMAX INC Actual shortage 0.4MG Updated Report 2024-12-12 245519
BIPAZEN KVR PHARMACEUTICALS INC. Actual shortage 4MCG Updated Report 2024-12-12 232584
APO-RIZATRIPTAN APOTEX INC Actual shortage 10MG New Report 2024-12-12 245511
APO-LATANOPROST APOTEX INC Actual shortage 50MCG New Report 2024-12-12 245508
APO-ATORVASTATIN APOTEX INC Actual shortage 10MG Updated Report 2024-12-12 245505
APO-CANDESARTAN TABLETS APOTEX INC Actual shortage 16MG New Report 2024-12-12 245502
APO-GUANFACINE XR APOTEX INC Actual shortage 3MG New Report 2024-12-12 245499

Discontinuation Reports

Brand name Company Name Status Strength Update Date Updated View Report
NUTROPIN AQ NUSPIN 20 HOFFMANN-LA ROCHE LIMITED To be discontinued 20MG Updated Report 2024-12-12 232086
NUTROPIN AQ NUSPIN 10 HOFFMANN-LA ROCHE LIMITED To be discontinued 10MG Updated Report 2024-12-12 232079
NUTROPIN AQ NUSPIN 5 HOFFMANN-LA ROCHE LIMITED To be discontinued 5MG Updated Report 2024-12-12 232071
JANUMET MERCK CANADA INC To be discontinued 850MG 50MG New Report 2024-12-12 245516
SANDOZ RIVASTIGMINE SANDOZ CANADA INCORPORATED Discontinued 1.5MG Updated Report 2024-12-11 245288