Making
Patient Care
Affordable
Our Industry
CGPA member companies are a strategic asset and play a vital role in Canada’s economy and healthcare sector. Through manufacturing facilities here in Canada and the global supply chain, generic pharmaceutical companies produce and deliver more than 77% of the prescription medicines dispensed in community pharmacies and used in hospitals and medical clinics across the country. Our members directly employ some 11,000 Canadians in well-paying life-sciences, technology, and manufacturing-based jobs. In addition to providing an essential service for our health-care system, these are the kinds of jobs that sustain families and communities and contribute to Canada’s economy.
Our Medicines
Generic prescription medicines are produced following the same Good Manufacturing Practices guidelines as brand-name drug manufacturers are required to follow. Generics are reviewed and authorized for sale by Health Canada before they are available for prescription and have the same active ingredient as the brand-name, the same amount of active ingredient and it works the same way in the body. But a generic prescription is only a fraction of the cost of the brand-name prescription.
Our Impact
Our member companies produce the vast majority of the prescriptions in Canada, more than 77%, but these medicines only cost 22.5% of all the money we spend on prescription medicines. Over the last five years, the use of generic medicine has saved our healthcare system tens of billions of dollars. Through the supply of these life-saving medicines for a small fraction of the original cost, Canada’s generic pharmaceutical industry is a key driver of a sustainable national healthcare system.
Generics Fill the Majority of Prescriptions for a Fraction of the Cost
dispensed in 2024
on prescriptions in 2024
Source: IQVIA, 12 months ending December 2024
Our Member Companies
Finished Dosage Manufacturers
Industry Suppliers / Active Ingredient Manufacturers
