Don't Close the Borders on Health Care: Medtech Canada Pushes for Stronger CUSMA Commitments to Protect Patients in Canada

TORONTO, Nov. 5, 2025 /CNW/ - Medtech Canada, the national association representing Canada's medical technology (medtech) industry, has formally submitted its recommendations to Global Affairs Canada as part of the consultation process for the upcoming 2026 joint review of the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).

The submission outlines the critical role of the medtech sector in North America's health and life sciences ecosystem and emphasizes the importance of preserving and enhancing CUSMA provisions to support trade stability, supply chain resilience, and regulatory cooperation.

"CUSMA has been instrumental in enabling the seamless movement of medical technologies across borders, ensuring patients have timely access to life-saving innovations," said Nicole DeKort, President and CEO of Medtech Canada. "Our submission calls on the Government of Canada to continue to reinforce its commitment to open, rules-based trade and to modernize key provisions to reflect today's integrated supply chains and emerging health security challenges."

Key recommendations in the submission include:

• Preserving duty-free access for medical devices and health technologies.
• Including Canada in Chapter 13 on Government Procurement to ensure fair and transparent access for medtech innovators and avoid protectionist policies on this sector (such as Ontario's Procurement Restriction Policy) that limit patient and clinician access to beneficial technologies.
• Strengthening regulatory alignment and mutual recognition under Chapter 12.
• Establishing trilateral frameworks for emergency coordination and supply chain resiliency.

Medtech Canada also urges the Competitiveness Committee under Chapter 26 to prioritize strategic sectors such as life sciences and critical minerals, which are essential to North American innovation and economic security.

Medtech Canada's full CUSMA submission can be viewed here.

Additionally, outside of Medtech Canada's CUSMA submission, the association continues to urge provinces that have placed retaliatory measures against the U.S. to exclude medical technologies from those measures. Restrictions remain in some provinces, with Ontario having the most challenging policy: it excludes Canadian subsidiaries of U.S. companies with fewer than 250 employees from participating in hospital procurements (with some exceptions).

Ontario's Procurement Restriction policy puts Canada's health care system at risk by limiting access to important innovations that improve patient care and health care delivery in Ontario--and puts Canadian jobs at risk, as these are companies that are fully incorporated in Canada, pay Canadian taxes, and employ Canadians. These retaliatory measures also put at risk the possibility of successful trade discussions as we head into the upcoming CUSMA negotiations.

"We shouldn't risk the possibility of retaliation or tariffs from the U.S. on Canadian medtech companies, as many Canadian companies are highly dependent on the U.S. market for their success," said DeKort. "We are asking provinces to remove retaliatory measures impacting medical technology companies so that our federal government can negotiate in good faith with the U.S."

The association stands ready to collaborate with the federal and provincial/territorial governments to ensure that the medtech sector in Canada continues to thrive and deliver cutting-edge solutions to patients in our country and across the continent.

SOURCE Medtech Canada

Gerry Frenette, Vice President, Public and Member Relations, Medtech Canada, [email protected]