Canada’s 27,000 Unused Ventilators Cost $807 Million

Plastic-covered ventilators are seen in the hallway at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg on Dec. 8, 2020. The Canadian Press/Mikaela MacKenzie

Canada’s stockpile of ventilators went from 500 pre-pandemic to 27,000 now. The federal government had awarded multiple contracts to produce ventilators before a dramatic drop in their use at the end of 2020.

The total cost of the ventilators was more than $807 million, Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) told The Canadian Press.