The federal government has signed a memorandum of understanding with Moderna to build a state-of-the-art mRNA vaccine plant in Canada.
Details of the plan are still scant. Tuesday's agreement does not give a location for the plant. It also did not say how many new jobs the project will create or how many vaccines Moderna would produce in Canada.
In February, Ottawa signed another memorandum of understanding with Novavax to make COVID-19 vaccines at a plant in Montreal. It announced a separate agreement with Precision Nanosystems at the same time. That facility at the University of Saskatchewan will also produce COVID-19 vaccines. The government signed a deal with Resilience Technologies in Mississauga three months ago.
"By supporting Canada's biomanufacturing sector, we are protecting Canadians," said Health Minister Patty Hajdu. "Our support for Moderna will give Canadians world-class access to vaccines made on Canadian soil for years to come."
While Canada has a history in biomanufacturing, the sector declined significantly over the past decades, leaving the country with no domestic production of vaccines when the pandemic struck. Since then, the Trudeau government has invested over $1.2-billion to rebuild our capacity to make vaccines.
Tuesday's announcement, and other recent ones, will ensure the country is better prepared for future pandemics and create highly skilled jobs.
Moderna already produces COVID-19 vaccines administered daily to Canadians in the U.S. and Europe. It is a pioneer in mRNA research.
