Shipments of 8-million masks from a Montreal supplier were suspended after Health Canada said they did not meet their standards.
Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer said the agency conducted testing and found that a significant proportion of the masks were not suitable for medical use.
Dr. Theresa Tam reassured Canadians that none of the masks were distributed.
She said teams are working on the supplier’s contracts, but she personally doesn’t know of any contractual issues. However, she said Health Canada’s job is to make sure that whatever goes to health care workers meets a certain standard.
Tam said when that much product does not meet standards, officials will have to go back and look at that arrangement.