CAPPEM supports Auditor General's recommendations on Ontario PPE

CAMBRIDGE, Ontario, Dec. 08, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ontario fundamentally needs a robust, domestically produced supply of high quality Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and The Canadian Association of PPE Manufacturers (CAPPEM) would like to thank Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk for her recently released report and recommendations on keeping Ontario safer and healthier.

Thanks are also extended to the Ontario Ministries of Health and Consumer and Government Services for accepting the Auditor General's recommendations. CAPPEM members stand ready and able to assist the Ontario government in fulfilling all eight of the Auditor General's PPE directives.

A lack of reliably available PPE prior to, and during, the beginning stages of the pandemic in 2020 was the foundation of CAPPEM's creation. The need to maintain a robust domestic supply of high-quality PPE remains even more relevant to the well-being of Ontarians as global supply chains and markets continue to fluctuate wildly.

CAPPEM members are pan-Canadian, but many are based in Ontario and have been able to effectively scale up the production of high-grade, Canadian-made PPE using Canadian and North American-sourced materials. While global supply chains in general continue to experience material and product shortages and delays, CAPPEM members have formulated a resilient PPE supply chain so that Canadians will never again be vulnerable to PPE shortages.

"The eight recommendations put forth by this report form the basis of a crucial strategy to ensure that the PPE crisis that Ontarians faced earlier during the COVID-19 pandemic is never repeated," observed CAPPEM President Barry Hunt.

"CAPPEM is ready to support the implementation of these recommendations through our reliable and sustainable network of Canadian manufacturers who are leading the world with product innovation and technology. We can substantially assist in achieving measurable improvements to provincial PPE supply, warehousing and distribution to all of our healthcare networks, first responders, as well as education, long term care, other government institutions and the general public," added Mr. Hunt.

CAPPEM fully supports the Supply Ontario initiative to centralize and manage both the province's PPE procurement and supply chain systems. CAPPEM members now have capacity to produce enough PPE to supply all of Canada's domestic needs and is prepared to assist Supply Ontario in acquiring and administering Ontario's PPE needs now and for the foreseeable future.

"Ontario's PPE sector has made significant investments to supply domestic markets as well as international clients. In Ontario there is no longer any need to use off shore products that are often inferior and may come from jurisdictions with poor labor and environmental records," concluded Mr. Hunt.

CAPPEM represents Canadian manufacturers of PPE including masks, respirators, medical gowns, surgical gloves, disinfectants, and more. Canadian PPE producers invested over $100 million and hired over 1,000 people in response to the pandemic.

For more information please contact: Danielle Cane - [email protected]