Canadian Integrated Program for Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance (CIPARS): Veterinary Antimicrobial Sales/Use

Starting in 2018, the Food and Drug Regulations require manufacturers, importers and compounders to report annual sales of List A ingredients (Health Canada’s Category I, II, III, and Uncategorized Medically Important Antimicrobials) intended for use in animals. To meet this requirement, the Public Health Agency of Canada and Health Canada designed and developed the online reporting tool, the Veterinary Antimicrobial Sales Reporting (VASR) system.

The information on this page includes the quantity of sales (measured in kilograms) of medically important antimicrobials by manufacturers and importers, and excludes compounders (unless otherwise noted).

CIPARS-VASR reports the quantity of antimicrobials sold in four ways:

1. Total kilograms
2. Milligrams per Canadian PCU (mg/PCU_CA)
3. Milligrams per European PCU (mg/PCU_EU)
4. Milligrams per biomass (mg/kg biomass)

The population correction unit (PCU) is a measure of animal biomass that accounts for the number of animals and their average weight at treatment (using either average Canadian or European weights). The kg biomass is a measure of animal biomass that accounts for the number of production animals and their Canadian average weight at slaughter or, for animals not raised for slaughter, their average adult weight. Production animals include both horses and food animals (beef and dairy cattle, veal calves, poultry, pigs, sheep, goats, and aquaculture).

New Biomass adjusted sales by province are now available (Figure 5).

For additional information, please visit the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Canadian Integrated Program for Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance (CIPARS) and Health Canada’s Veterinary Antimicrobial Sales Reporting (VASR).

Figure 1. CIPARS-VASR: Annual quantity in kilograms mg per Canadian PCU mg per European PCU mg per kg biomass of medically important antimicrobials sold by manufacturers and importers for use in all animals production animals cats and dogs , Canada.

Figure 2. CIPARS-VASR: Annual quantity in kilograms mg per Canadian PCU mg per European PCU mg per kg biomass of medically important antimicrobials sold by manufacturers and importers by Health Canada's Category of Importance in Human Medicine, for use in all animals production animals cats and dogs , Canada.

Hover over the line graph to see the annual quantity of antimicrobials sold by manufacturers and importers. Click on a legend element to add or remove the corresponding lines from the graph.

Figure 3. CIPARS-VASR: Annual quantity in kilograms mg per Canadian PCU mg per European PCU mg per kg biomass of medically important antimicrobials sold by manufacturers and importers for use in all animals production animals , by antimicrobial class, Canada.

Figure 4. CIPARS-VASR: Quantity in kilograms mg per Canadian PCU mg per European PCU mg per kg biomass of medically important antimicrobials sold by manufacturers and importers by species, Canada.

Hover over the line graph to see the annual quantity of antimicrobials sold by manufacturers and importers. Click on a legend element to add or remove the corresponding lines from the graph.

Figure 5. CIPARS-VASR: Quantity in kilograms mg per kg biomass of medically important antimicrobials sold by manufacturers and importers, by province, in Canada, in 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 .

Figure 6. CIPARS-VASR: The percentage of total sales (in kg) of medically important antimicrobials by manufacturers and importers, by route of administration, in Canada, in 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 .

CIPARS Farm AMU interactive data visualizations below provide an overview of AMU data from the CIPARS Farm Surveillance component by:

• Farm type (including broiler chicken flocks, turkey flocks, and grower-finisher pig herds)
• Antimicrobial class (for example, penicillins, tetracyclines, macrolides)
• Route of administration (including in feed, in water, and by injection)
• Region – National and Provincial (with Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan grouped together as the Prairies)
• Health Canada's categorization of antimicrobial drugs based on importance to human medicine

For additional information about the CIPARS Farm Surveillance component, please visit Canadian Integrated Program for Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance (CIPARS).

The CIPARS-FARM AMU visualizations include Category I, II, and III antimicrobials (as well as some antimicrobials that are uncategorized but considered medically important). Category IV antimicrobials and chemical coccidiostats are currently excluded from the visualizations.

Antimicrobial use is measured in four ways:

1. The percentage of farms (herds or flocks) using antimicrobials (count-based measure)
2. Milligrams per Canadian PCU (mg/PCU_CA, weight-based measure)
3. Milligrams per kilogram animal biomass (mg/kg biomass, weight-based measure)
4. Number of defined daily doses for animals per 1,000 animal-days (nDDDvet_CA/1,000 animal-days, dose-based measure)

The population correction unit (PCU) is a measure of animal biomass that accounts for the number of animals and their average weight at treatment. The kilogram animal biomass (kg biomass), also a measure of animal biomass, uses the average live weight of at the time of slaughter (or adult weight for animals not raised for slaughter). Defined daily doses per 1,000 animal-days is a measure of the number of daily doses of antimicrobials given, and accounts for the dose of the antimicrobial used, the number of animals, and the number of days in the production cycle.

Please note that Figure 1 includes the number of participating farms and the number of animals sampled by year, by surveillance component, and by province or region, which provides an indication of how the scope of surveillance coverage has changed over time.

These interactive visualizations are updated regularly, and therefore may differ from published CIPARS reports.

Figure 1. CIPARS-FARM: The number of farms sampled, the number of animals sampled (population at risk), and the days at risk (length of the production cycle), 2014-2023, Canada.

Hover over the line graph to see the number of farms sampled, the number of animals sampled (population at risk), and the days at risk (length of the production cycle).

Figure 2. CIPARS-FARM: The percentage of farms reporting use of medically important antimicrobials, 2017-2023, Canada.

Hover over the line graph to see the percentage of farms using medically important antimicrobials.

Figure 3. CIPARS-FARM: Annual quantity of medically important antimicrobials reported by farms and by route of administration, in 2017-2023, Canada.

Hover over the line graph to see the annual quantity of medically important antimicrobials reported by farms, by route of administration.

Figure 4. CIPARS-FARM: The quantity of medically important antimicrobials reported by farms and by route of administration, in 2019-2023, Canada.

Hover over the bar graph to see the annual quantity of medically important antimicrobials reported by route of administration and antimicrobial class.

Figure 5. CIPARS-FARM: The quantity of medically important antimicrobials reported by farms and by route of administration and category of importance to human medicine, in 2019-2023, Canada.

Hover over the bar graph to see the annual quantity of medically important antimicrobials reported by route of administration and category of importance.