Canada Is Making So Much PPE That It Might Not Have To Get It From Other Countries

Getting enough personal protective equipment has been a major issue throughout this pandemic. However, Canada's PPE manufacturing is almost at the point of being self-sufficient. That could be a major plus during a potential second wave.

CTV News reports that during a virtual speaking engagement at the 2020 Collision tech conference, Prime Minister Trudeau said that the country is well on the way to being self-reliant with PPE.

"We're now getting to a place where we're close to self-sufficient on that and able to turn around and share with the world, particularly the developing world," he said.

CTV also notes that Trudeau is expected to expand on these remarks when he visits Big Rig Brewery in Kanata on June 26. The company is one of many that has turned its resources to making hand sanitizer.

Trudeau also used his time during the conference to express optimism about the country's situation.

"When we compare to Northern Europe and the United States and others, [Canada is] doing better," he said, according to Betakit.

"It’s still a challenge, [we have] around 100,000 cases, but we’ve got the trajectory we want and we’re continuing to feel optimistic."

As the provinces begin to cautiously reopen, the Canadian government has also set up a website for companies to buy and sell PPE.

Canada has seen its share of setbacks when it comes to getting enough PPE for frontline workers.

In April, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered 3M to stop shipping valuable N-95 masks to Canada, a move that Trudeau said would only hurt the United States.

It's been so valuable during this time that sharing it became essential.

Alberta provided Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia with 750,000 masks back in April.

Similarly, an IKEA location in Vaughan found a bunch of N-95 masks at their store and immediately donated them to a local hospital.