Organizations buying and selling personal protective equipment during COVID-19: Buyers

The personal protective equipment (PPE) supply hub provides information for organizations requiring personal protective equipment (PPE) for themselves or their employees. This information will be updated regularly.

On this page

• Finding personal protective equipment
• Consumer guidance
• Considerations when buying personal protective equipment
• Community resources

Finding personal protective equipment

In this section

• Provincial and territorial resources
• Matching supply with demand
• Contingency reserve for essential services

Provincial and territorial resources

You can find suppliers to potentially purchase PPE through your province or territory.

• Alberta
• Manitoba
  • Manitoba marketplace for personal protective equipment
• New Brunswick
  • A list of PPE sources for New Brunswick businesses is accessible via the quick links section
• Newfoundland and Labrador
• Northwest Territories
• Nova Scotia
• Ontario
• Quebec (in French only)

Matching supply with demand

These resources assist in connecting PPE requests and offers as you respond to COVID-19.

• The Rapid Response Platform
• Ignite Atlantic

Contingency reserve for essential services

Essential service businesses and organizations may request access to PPE and critical supplies to address urgent, short-term needs and protect frontline workers.

PPE and critical supplies are provided to eligible businesses and organizations in essential service sectors on a cost-recovery basis and organizations serving Indigenous communities, the social service sector (for example, non-profits), and provincial or territorial governments at no cost.

In order to serve a multitude of needs, the Government of Canada reserves the right to limit quantities if necessary.

Essential Services Contingency Reserve

Consumer guidance

• Competition Bureau: What they are doing to protect consumers and businesses from anti-competitive activity
• Designing an effective personal protective equipment program for your business (Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety)
• Pandemic (COVID-19) tip sheets for higher-risk and essential occupations and industries (Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety)
• Resources for helping workplaces prevent the spread and reopen for business (Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety)
• Report a medical device problem
• File a device marketing complaint
• Report price gouging related to COVID-19 (Government of Ontario)

Considerations when buying personal protective equipment

Consult the following resources to help you prepare to purchase PPE and reopen your organization.

Information on the main types of PPE, including how to use them:

• Medical personal protective equipment
• Non-medical masks and face coverings
• Use of medical masks and respirators

When buying PPE from a supplier, you may want to consider factors such as these:

• the quantity currently available in the supplier’s inventory
• the date the products can be delivered
• the country of origin of the product
• whether the supplier delivers to your location
• whether the supplier has provided references
• whether the supplier’s products comply with standards and certifications

Find specifications for different types of PPE:

Specifications for COVID-19 products

PPE being sold for medical purposes is classified as medical devices in Canada and requires Health Canada authorization.

• If the product is a medical device, is the product compliant with certifications and Health Canada standards?
• Does the seller have authorization from Health Canada to import or sell the device?
  • A COVID-19 medical device may be authorized through several different pathways
    • Some of these pathways existed before the COVID-19 pandemic, and other pathways have been created to help address COVID-19 in Canada
  • You can review authorized medical devices for uses related to COVID-19 to know whether a COVID-19 medical device can be imported or sold in Canada

Community resources

• Canadian Red Cross
  • Offering COVID-19 emergency support for community organizations

Indigenous businesses

Information on the stockpile, supplies in First Nations and Inuit communities, and how to access PPE, is available on the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and Indigenous communities page.

Many Indigenous businesses are stepping up to help combat COVID-19. Get a list of businesses involved with PPE and other COVID-19-related work.

• Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business
• Indigenous Business COVID-19 Taskforce supplier database

Provincial and territorial COVID-19 information

• Alberta COVID-19 information
• British Columbia COVID-19 information
  • WorkSafeBC
• Manitoba COVID-19 information
• New Brunswick COVID-19 information
• Newfoundland and Labrador COVID-19 information
• Northwest Territories COVID-19 information
• Nova Scotia COVID-19 information
• Nunavut COVID-19 information
• Ontario COVID-19 information
• Prince Edward Island COVID-19 information
• Quebec COVID-19 information
• Saskatchewan COVID-19 information
• Yukon COVID-19 information

Health and safety

• Pandemic Info Share: A space where businesses may share their pandemic-related resources and best practices for personal protective equipment use and returning to the workplace (Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety)
• COVID-19 prevention and preparedness
• Awareness resources, including videos and printable resources on social distancing
• Risk mitigation tool for workplaces/businesses operating during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Hard-surface disinfectants and hand sanitizers (COVID-19)
  • List of disinfectants with evidence for use against COVID-19
  • List of hand sanitizers authorized by Health Canada