Public Services and Procurement Minister Anita Anand listens to a question during a news conference in Ottawa, Thursday April 16, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Procurement Minister Anita Anand says Canada is facing many procurement challenges given the intense global demand for equipment and supplies, but the government is taking an aggressive approach to quickly bring COVID-19 supplies to Canada.
She says much of the world's supply of these materials are in China, and moving equipment from that country is highly complex.
Two planes from China were forced to return empty to Canada on Monday, one a federal charter and the other destined for a particular province arriving in Canada without the protective medical equipment that they were sent there to pick up.
Anand says Canada is taking new logistical and diplomatic approaches on the ground to ensure critical COVID-19 supplies make it to Canada.