China/India
manufacturing
(OECD avg = 100)
sector in Ottawa
The Dependence
Three Vulnerabilities
API Supply Dependence — 80% From Two Countries
Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients — the molecules that make medicines work — are overwhelmingly manufactured in China and India. Canadian pharmaceutical companies import APIs and formulate finished dosage forms (pills, capsules, injectables) in Canada. This means the chemical foundation of Canadian medicine is foreign-sourced. During COVID-19, India restricted exports of hydroxychloroquine and paracetamol APIs. China restricted exports of medical supplies. Canada had no domestic alternative. A trade dispute, geopolitical crisis, or pandemic that disrupts API supply from China or India would immediately threaten the Canadian medicine supply.
PMPRB Failure — Prices Above OECD Average
The Patented Medicine Prices Review Board was created to ensure Canadian drug prices are not excessive. As documented in the regulatory capture analysis, Canada's drug prices remain approximately 20% above the OECD average (index 120 vs baseline 100). PMPRB reform efforts — including revised price comparison methodologies — have been delayed for years through pharmaceutical industry legal challenges and lobbying. The result: Canadians pay more for medicines made from imported ingredients regulated by a captured agency.
The Pharmacare Gap — Bill C-64 Incomplete
As documented in the pharmacare analysis, the Hoskins Report recommended universal pharmacare in 2019. Bill C-64 provided only partial coverage (contraceptives and diabetes medications). Canada remains the only country with universal healthcare that does not include universal pharmacare. Canadians who cannot afford medications go without — contributing to the health deterioration documented in the MAID pipeline. The inability to afford medicine accelerates the pathway from treatable condition to "irremediable" suffering.
Can't Make Medicine. Can't Afford Medicine. Offers Death Instead.
Can't manufacture APIs domestically → dependent on China/India. PMPRB can't control prices → Canadians pay 20% above OECD. Pharmacare incomplete → patients go without. Conditions worsen → MAID becomes available.
The system that cannot provide medicine offers death as an alternative. The pharma industry profits from both the high prices and the system failures they produce.