$50 Million for Vaccine Injuries. Two-Thirds Went to the Consultants.

The numbers tell a story the government never intended to publish. Ottawa gave a private company called Oxaro $50.6 million to administer Canada’s vaccine injury compensation program. Of that, $33.7 million — two-thirds — was spent on administrative costs. The injured Canadians the program was supposed to help received $16.9 million. For every dollar that went to a person harmed by a vaccine, two dollars went to the company processing the paperwork.¹

On March 31, the contract expired. The Public Health Agency of Canada announced it is taking over the program, renaming it the Vaccine Impact Assistance Program. The Health Minister ordered an audit of Oxaro months ago after allegations of mismanagement. That audit is not yet complete.²

The vaccine injury support program was announced in December 2020 by Justin Trudeau, ahead of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. It was supposed to fulfil the government’s “social contract” — compensating Canadians in the rare event they were seriously and permanently harmed by a Health Canada-authorized vaccine. Every other G7 country already had such a program. Quebec had run its own since 1985. Canada was the last to act.³

Ottawa contracted Oxaro — a private third-party administrator — to run the program at arm’s length from PHAC. The initial budget was $50 million over five years. An additional $36.4 million was added in 2024. Another $17.6 million has been allocated for the transition to PHAC. The total public investment now exceeds $100 million.

The government initially predicted the program would receive 40 claims per year. It received more than 3,000. As of December, 1,700 people were still waiting for a decision on their claims.⁴

A five-month Global News investigation published in 2025 documented what claimants described as a system in collapse. Injured Canadians reported a revolving door of unreachable case managers. Some fundraised online to survive while waiting for decisions. One claimant — a retired Vancouver fire captain named Messenger who was partially paralyzed after a COVID-19 vaccination — was declared dead by the program while she was still alive. She received a letter calling her a “deceased claimant.”⁵

“They don’t treat us as human beings,” one claimant told Global News. “It feels like they’re waiting for us to die.”

National Cancer Institute / Unsplash — More than 3,000 Canadians filed claims with the vaccine injury support program. As of December, 1,700 were still waiting for a decision. The government initially predicted just 40 claims per year.

Updated figures from Health Canada show that by mid-2025, Oxaro had received $54.1 million and spent $36.3 million on administration. Just $18.1 million had been paid to injured Canadians.

Kayla Pollock is 39 years old. The Ontario woman says she was athletic and outgoing before receiving her COVID-19 booster in February 2022. Today, she is paralyzed from the chest down with limited function in her arms. She was diagnosed with acute transverse myelitis — inflammation of the spinal cord that can cause sudden and irreversible damage. She is one of more than 3,000 Canadians who filed a claim with the program.⁶

More than 105 million COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered in Canada between December 2020 and December 2023. Health Canada reported 58,712 adverse event reports — 0.056% of all shots. Of those, 11,702 were considered serious — 0.011% of vaccines given. The injuries are rare. But for the people who suffered them, the government’s promise of fair and timely compensation has been broken.

Dr. Kumanan Wilson, who was tasked by PHAC with analyzing comparable programs in other countries, found that every other G7 nation — and Quebec — managed their vaccine injury programs without a third-party administrator. Canada was the only one that outsourced the work. Wilson, who has advocated for a compensation program for decades, said it is the government’s responsibility as part of its social contract to provide compensation when a person is harmed by a vaccine.⁷

The contrast with Quebec is especially stark. Quebec’s program has operated since 1985 — run directly by the province, without a private middleman. It received $7.75 million from Ottawa when the federal program launched. It has not been the subject of mismanagement allegations, revolving case managers, or claimants being declared dead.

PHAC says it will work to clear the backlog, improve transparency, and introduce a secure online portal for claimants. The Health Minister says the government is taking “meaningful steps.” But the audit of Oxaro’s management — ordered in May 2025 — is still not complete. A summary will be made public “later this year.”

The government asked Canadians to get vaccinated. Millions did. A small number were seriously harmed. The government promised compensation. It gave the job to a private company. That company spent two-thirds of the money on itself. It declared a living claimant dead. It left 1,700 people waiting for a decision. It predicted 40 claims a year and received 3,000. Every other G7 country managed its program without a middleman. Canada outsourced it, paid over $50 million, and the injured received $16.9 million. The contract has now expired. The audit is not finished. And the people the program was built for are still waiting.