Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his officials continue working with their U.S counterparts to make sure needed medical equipment flows across the border.

During his daily briefing, Trudeau was asked if a shipment from 3M was a one-off.

“We’ve had constructive and productive conversations to ensure this particular shipment comes through but we recognize there is still more work to do.”

The Prime Minister says Canada is expecting 500-thousand medical grade masks from 3M Wednesday and as the demand for critical supplies goes up, they are working with companies for a Made-in-Canada solution for everything from medical gowns and hand sanitizer to masks and ventilators.

During his Ottawa briefing on the COVID-19 pandemic, the prime minister was asked about having companies manufacture 30 thousand ventilators, and if he thought that many would be needed in Canada.

Trudeau says if we make more than needed because we followed best health advice that is good news and there are countries which cannot tool up local production to make more ventilators so there is always the option to provide elsewhere.

The Prime Minister says almost 5-thousand companies have gotten in touch with the government to offer their services and fulfill the need for critical supplies.

Made-in-Canada solutions that are in the works:

Purchasing made-in-Canada ventilators from Thornhill Medical, CAE, Ventilators for Canadians, and StarFish Medical and other manufacturing partners, including Linamar, through an accelerated process. The Government of Canada is working with these companies to produce up to 30,000 ventilators. These purchases will help secure increased domestic capacity in producing these life-saving machines.

Working with one of Canada’s Nobel Prize-winning researchers, Dr. Art McDonald, who is leading a team of scientists at national laboratories TRIUMF, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, and SNOLAB to develop an easy-to-produce ventilator using off-the-shelf, easily accessible parts. The goal is to develop a ventilator model to meet current needs that can be constructed quickly and reliably in Canada.

Using innovative alternative materials, which have been authorized through Health Canada’s expedited regulatory process, to augment the supply of medical gowns. Stanfield’s Limited will use a fabric developed by Intertape Polymer Group to supply protective medical gowns. The Government of Canada has signed a purchase order with Stanfield’s, which will use its Canadian manufacturing platform to fulfill the order. The government has also signed a letter of intent to support AutoLiv as it works to repurpose material traditionally used for air bags to provide additional fabric for medical gowns. Using these alternative materials will significantly increase the number of medical gowns that can be made in Canada.

Establishing and securing new supply chains to produce medical gowns from new Canadian sources. The Government of Canada has signed letters of intent with a total of 22 apparel manufacturers, including Arc’teryx and Canada Goose, to produce needed medical gowns for Canadian health care workers using newly-sourced Canadian material.

Purchasing and producing masks to protect our health care workers. The Government of Canada has placed orders for millions of surgical masks from various companies, including Medicom, Surgo Surgical Supply, and Breathe Medical. The government is also supporting Medicom’s work to increase its capacity to produce tens of millions more surgical and N95 masks per year right here in Canada.

Purchasing hand sanitizer from Canadian companies, including Fluid Energy Group Ltd. and Irving Oil. The Government of Canada is also supporting the Hand Sanitizer Manufacturing Exchange established by Cosmetics Alliance Canada, the Canadian Consumer Specialty Products Association, and Spirits Canada. In addition, the government is working to increase hand sanitizer supply by matchmaking companies, and by identifying and guiding new producers through the licencing and procurement process. In the last three weeks, Health Canada has expedited the authorization of more than 400 new hand sanitizer products to help limit the spread of COVID19.