By The Canadian Press

Ottawa says national security incident, error at emergency stockpile unrelated

Feb 16, 2026 | 12:27 PM

OTTAWA — The Public Health Agency of Canada now says there was no connection between a national security incident at the country’s emergency stockpile warehouse in 2024 and an error that caused the loss of $20-million of medication.

At a House committee meeting last week, a senior agency official told MPs that a “foreign national” had tried to access the warehouse after the loss happened in December 2024.

The official told the committee she didn’t know what country the person was from, and didn’t explain whether the two incidents were related.

When pressed for details, a government spokesperson said the official’s comments are being corrected with the committee, and the national security incident actually happened a month earlier.

The Public Health Agency of Canada says it received a request to access the warehouse for equipment maintenance, and flagged it as a suspicious incident.

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The agency says it denied the request and therefore did not verify the nationality of the person who made it — but did not explain why officials said it was a foreign national.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 16, 2026.

Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press