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Company picked by Ottawa to produce made-in-Canada vaccines warns it may go out of business – CBC.ca

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The federal Liberal government’s COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing policy is facing yet another challenge after Maryland-based Novavax announced late Tuesday it may not have enough cash in a year’s time to stay in business.

That means three pillars of the government’s made-in-Canada COVID-19 vaccine procurement strategy have failed or could soon fail.

In addition to this new hiccup with cash-strapped Novavax, there was the doomed deal with China-based CanSino and a major investment in the now-defunct Medicago.

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The government did, however, successfully procure tens of millions of COVID-19 doses from foreign companies like Pfizer and Moderna, firms that supplied highly effective shots that have saved an untold number of Canadians from severe outcomes and death.

The government has long promised it will produce Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine at the National Research Council (NRC) Royalmount site in Montreal — a publicly owned facility in a country that has seen vaccine production all but disappear after decades of mismanagement and changing economics.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in 2020, at the height of the pandemic, that the country would produce Canadian-made shots at a new purpose-built facility at Royalmount by the end of that year. That never happened after a plan to work with CanSino fell through.

Then, in early 2021, Trudeau announced the partnership with Novavax, saying the NRC’s biologics manufacturing centre would churn out the U.S. company’s COVID-19 shot by “mid-2021.” The plan was billed as a way to lessen Canada’s dependence on foreign sources of shots.

As CBC News has previously reported, the NRC plant still hasn’t produced a single vial of the Novavax vaccine.

While the biologics centre is built and Health Canada has authorized the Novavax shot for use in Canada, the NRC site still isn’t producing vaccines at scale — the complex regulatory and scientific process hasn’t been completed on the government’s ambitious timeline.

WATCH: Canada still without vaccine plant despite federal promises

Canada still without vaccine plant despite federal promises

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One year after it was supposed to begin producing vaccines for Canada, the government-funded Montreal factory sits idle and continues to face regulation hurdles.

Novavax’s warning Tuesday that it has “substantial doubt” about its ability to stay in business after the next year could derail the federal government’s plan entirely.

“While our current cash flow forecast for the one-year going concern, look-forward period estimates that we have sufficient capital available to fund operations, this forecast is subject to significant uncertainty, including as it relates to 2023 revenue, funding from the U.S. government, and pending arbitration,” Novavax said in a statement while releasing its fourth-quarter results.

“Given these uncertainties, substantial doubt exists regarding our ability to continue as a going concern through one year from the date that these financial statements are issued,” the company said.

Two men wearing lab coats, face masks and safety glasses in conversation. One man holds a vaccine needle.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, right, speaks with scientist Krishnaraj Tiwari during a visit to the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) Royalmount Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre facility in Montreal, Monday, Aug 31, 2020. The site was supposed to pump out COVID-19 vaccines by the end of 2021. (Graham Hughes/Canadian Press)

In an interview with Reuters after announcing the financial results, the company’s CEO said the company has been spending at a “hot rate,” and it plans to cut back — including possible job cuts.

CBC News asked Novavax if it plans to continue its work with the NRC given the state of the company’s finances. Novavax hasn’t responded.

A spokesperson for Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said the government “will continue to monitor the situation regarding Novavax” and suggested the NRC site could be used to manufacture other vaccines from different companies.

“Built ahead of schedule, the Biologics Manufacturing Centre is capable of commercial, end-to-end production of cell-based vaccines — for whatever the future may hold,” Laurie Bouchard said in a statement to CBC News.

“The centre can host multiple partners, support a range of biomanufacturing activities, and is capable of producing up to 2 million doses per month, depending on the vaccine candidate,” she said.

A vial of a COVID-19 vaccine is pictured.
A vial of the Phase 3 Novavax coronavirus vaccine is seen in this file photo. The Maryland-based company has warned it may run out of cash. (Alastair Grant/AP Photo)

Christine Jodoin, the vice-president of strategic initiatives at the NRC, said the federal research body will “continue to work with Novavax Inc., on the production of the company’s COVID-19 vaccine, Nuvaxovid.”

Jodoin said there may be other partners — and other products — for the site in the future.

The government-owned manufacturing facility “can pivot to produce cell-based vaccines or other drugs to keep Canadians safe.”

The Novavax development follows news last month that Quebec-based Medicago, another COVID-19 vaccine manufacturer, will close down.

Once billed as a Canadian success story, Medicago’s parent company said it didn’t see a future for the Quebec firm despite significant taxpayer funding.

The federal government gave Medicago nearly $200 million to build a plant in Quebec City to manufacture COVID-19 shots.

The government also signed an advance purchase agreement with the company to procure tens of millions of doses.

Bouchard defended the government’s record on the vaccine file.

“At the beginning of the pandemic, our government acted quickly to ensure Canadians had access to the most promising COVID vaccines as early as possible,” Bouchard said.

“Because of our quick and decisive actions, we were able to ensure Canada had enough vaccines for every Canadian and we were able to scale up domestic biomanufacturing capacity after 40 years in decline,” she said.

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Alberta's population surges by record-setting 202,000 people: Here's where they all came from – CBC.ca

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Alberta smashed population-growth records in the past year, mainly due to people moving to the province from across Canada and around the world.

The province’s population surged to just over 4.8 million as of Jan. 1, according to new estimates released Wednesday by Statistics Canada.

That’s an increase of 202,324 residents compared with a year earlier, which marks — by far — the largest annual increase on record.

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Alberta also broke a national record in 2023 for interprovincial migration, with a net gain of 55,107 people.

“This was the largest gain in interprovincial migration nationally since comparable data became available in 1972,” Statistics Canada said in a release.


Most of the interprovincial migrants came from Ontario and British Columbia.

Statistics Canada estimates that 38,236 Ontarians moved to Alberta last year, versus 14,860 Albertans who moved to Ontario, for a net gain of 23,376 people.

Similarly, an estimated 37,650 British Columbians moved to Alberta, compared to 22,400 Albertans who moved to B.C., for a net gain of 15,250.


All told, interprovincial migration accounted for 27 per cent of Alberta’s population growth over the past year.

That put it just ahead of permanent immigration, which accounted for 26 per cent, and well ahead of natural population increase (more births than deaths), which accounted for eight per cent.

The largest component, however, was temporary international migration.

Non-permanent residents from other countries accounted for 39 per cent of the province’s population growth in the past year, reflecting a national trend.


Canada’s population reached 40,769,890 on Jan. 1, according to Statistics Canada estimates, which is up 3.2 per cent from a year ago.

“Most of Canada’s 3.2-per-cent population growth rate stemmed from temporary immigration in 2023,” Statistics Canada noted.

“Without temporary immigration, that is, relying solely on permanent immigration and natural increase (births minus deaths), Canada’s population growth would have been almost three times less (1.2 per cent).”

Alberta’s population, meanwhile, grew by 4.4 per cent year-over-year.

Alberta now represents 11.8 per cent of the country’s population, its largest proportion on record. 

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Why Canada's record population growth is helping – and hurting – the economy – CTV News

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Canada has recorded the fastest population growth in 66 years, increasing by 1.3 million people, or 3.2 per cent, in 2023, according to a new report from Statistics Canada.

The country has not seen such growth since 1957, when the spike was attributed to the baby boom and an influx of immigrants fleeing Hungary.

The vast majority of Canada’s growth last year was due to immigration, with temporary residents — which includes foreign workers and international students — making up the largest proportion of newcomers.

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“We need people coming to Canada to help with our economy,” says Matti Siemiatycki, a professor of planning at the University of Toronto. “There are many jobs and professions where there are vacancies, and that is having an impact, whether in the healthcare sector or trades and construction sector.”

Siemiatycki adds immigrants also bring “ingenuity… resources… and culture” to Canada.

Newcomers are relied on to help keep pace with Canada’s aging population and declining fertility rates, but the influx also presents a challenge for a country struggling to build the homes and infrastructure needed for immigrants.

“It’s an incredibly large shock for the economic system to absorb because of just the sheer number of people coming into the country in a short period of time,” says Robert Kavcic. a senior economist and director with BMO Capital Markets.

“The reality is population can grow extremely fast, but the supply side of the economy like housing and service infrastructure, think health care and schools, can only catch up at a really gradual pace,” Kavcic says. “So there is a mismatch right now.”

The impact of that mismatch can most acutely be seen in the cost of rent, services and housing.

In December, Kavcic wrote in a note that Canada needs to build 170,000 new housing units every three months to keep up with population growth, noting the industry is struggling to complete 220,000 units in a full year.

To address this, Ottawa has announced plans to cap the number of new temporary residents while also reducing the number of international student visas, a move economists say could offer some relief when it comes to housing and the cost of living.

“The arithmetic on the caps actual works relatively well because it would take us back down to 1 per cent population growth which we have been used to over the last decade and which is more or less absorbable by the economy,” Kavcic says. “The question is whether or not we see policy makers follow through and hit those numbers.”

Economists believe these changes could help ease inflationary pressures and may make a Bank of Canada rate cut more likely, but could also lead to slower GDP growth.

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Canada’s population hits 41M months after breaking 40M threshold – Global News

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Nine months after reaching a population of 40 million, Canada has cracked a new threshold.

As of Wednesday morning, it’s estimated 41 million people now call the country home, according to Statistics Canada’s live population tracker.

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The speed at which Canada’s population is growing was also reflected in new data released Wednesday by the federal agency: between Jan. 1 2023 and Jan. 1 2024, Canada added 1,271,872 inhabitants, a 3.2 per cent growth rate — the highest since 1957.

Most of Canada’s 3.2 per cent population growth rate stemmed from temporary immigration. Without it, Canada’s population growth would have been 1.2 per cent, Statistics Canada said.


Click to play video: 'Business News: Job growth fails to keep pace with population'

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Business News: Job growth fails to keep pace with population


From Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2023, Canada’s population increased by 241,494 people (0.6 per cent), the highest rate of growth in a fourth quarter since 1956.

Usha George, a professor at the Toronto Metropolitan Centre for Immigration and Settlement at Toronto Metropolitan University, told Global News in June a booming population can benefit the economy.

“It is not the bodies we are bringing in; these are bodies that fill in the empty spaces in the labour market,” she said.

“They bring a very-high level of skills.”


Click to play video: 'Canadian millennials surpass baby boomers as dominant generation: StatCan'

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Canadian millennials surpass baby boomers as dominant generation: StatCan


However, Ottawa has recently sought to ease the flow of temporary immigration in a bid to ease cost-of-living woes.


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Immigration Minister Marc Miller said on March 21 Ottawa would set targets for temporary residents allowed into Canada to ensure “sustainable” growth in the number of temporary residents entering the nation.

The next day, BMO economist Robert Kavcic in a note to clients the new limits will have a positive impact on Canada’s rental market and overall housing crisis.

“We’ve been firm in our argument that Canada has had an excess demand problem in housing, and this is maybe the clearest example,” Kavcic said.

“Non-permanent resident inflows, on net, have swelled to about 800K in the latest year, with few checks and balances in place, putting tremendous stress on housing supply and infrastructure.”

Alberta gains, Ontario loses: A look at Canadian migration in 2023

If Alberta is truly calling, then it appears more Canadians are choosing to answer.

Putting the pun on the provincial government’s attraction campaign aside, Canada’s wild rose country saw the largest net gain in interprovincial migration in 2023, Statistics Canada said in Wednesday’s report.


Click to play video: 'Is Alberta ready for population growth?'

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Is Alberta ready for population growth?


The agency said 55,107 Canadians moved to Alberta last year, which was the largest gain in interprovincial migration nationally since comparable data become available in 1972.

“Alberta has been recording gains in population from interprovincial migration since 2022, a reverse of the trend seen from 2016 to 2021, when more people left the province than arrived from other parts of Canada,” Statistics Canada said.

“Approximately 333,000 Canadians moved from one province or territory to another in 2023, the second-highest number recorded since the 1990s and the third straight year that interprovincial migration topped 300,000.”

Meanwhile, British Columbia had 8,624 more residents move out than in in 2023, meaning net interprovincial migration was negative for the first time since 2012, Statistics Canada said.

In general, the largest migration flows for British Columbia and Alberta are with each other, and most of the net loss from British Columbia in 2023 was to Alberta, it added.


Click to play video: '‘Enormous pressure’ expected in Ontario home care due to high growth of senior population'

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‘Enormous pressure’ expected in Ontario home care due to high growth of senior population


It also seems that good things may no longer be growing in Ontario; Canada’s most populous province lost 36,197 people to other regions in 2023, the biggest regional loss in 2023, Statistics Canada said.

That followed a loss of 38,816 people in 2022; the only other times a province has lost more than 35,000 people due to migration to other parts of Canada occurred in Quebec in 1977 and 1978.

Alberta aside, net interprovincial migration was also up in Nova Scotia (+6,169 people), New Brunswick (+4,790) and Prince Edward Island (+818), although all three Maritime provinces gained fewer interprovincial migrants in 2023 than in the two previous years, Statistics Canada said.

— with files from Uday Rana and Sean Previl

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