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Personal Protective Equipment Survey, May 2021

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Released: 2021-07-16

With nearly half of the Canadian population vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of May 2021, demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) as well as concerns about shortages were down slightly compared with February 2021. Both posted their lowest levels since July 2020, when the first iteration of the survey was conducted. The share of businesses involved in the manufacturing or distribution of PPE also declined in May.

Businesses' needs for personal protective equipment at lowest level since July 2020

In May 2021, just over three-fifths (60.6%) of businesses reported that they needed, or expected to need, PPE to operate in accordance with COVID-19-related public health guidelines, down 5.5 percentage points from February 2021.

Businesses in educational services (87.3%), health care and social assistance (82.1%), accommodation and food services (82.0%), manufacturing (78.1%), and retail trade (74.2%) had the highest demand for PPE. Conversely, businesses in professional, scientific and technical services (41.6%) and agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (35.3%) had the lowest demand for PPE.

Items of PPE related to cleaning and disinfecting surfaces, as well as face and hand coverings, continued to be the most demanded by businesses. The distribution of PPE items most demanded by businesses has remained relatively constant since July 2020, as businesses continue to implement cleaning practices and to provide disinfectants to their employees and their clients or patients in order to operate in accordance with the public health guidelines aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19.

Chart 1  Chart 1: Personal protective equipment products most in demand by businesses, by product
Personal protective equipment products most in demand by businesses, by product

Chart 1: Personal protective equipment products most in demand by businesses, by product

Businesses continue to be less concerned about shortages of personal protective equipment

Consistent with the results from February 2021, just over four-fifths (80.4%) of businesses that require PPE to operate indicated that they did not expect any shortages in any one type of PPE within the next three months.

Under one-fifth (19.6%) of businesses that reported requiring at least one type of PPE to operate in accordance with public health guidelines had concerns about potential shortages of PPE within the next three months, down 0.3 percentage points from February 2021. This marked the fourth consecutive decline in the number of businesses expecting PPE shortages and was the lowest level since July 2020.

Businesses in private health care and social assistance were most likely (16.6%) to expect a shortage of any type of PPE they required, as was the case in February 2021.

Share of businesses involved in the manufacturing or distribution of personal protective equipment declines

Just under 1 in 20 (4.6%) businesses in the manufacturing, retail trade and wholesale trade sector were involved in the manufacturing and distribution of PPE in May, down 3.8 percentage points compared with February 2021.

  Note to readers

The 14 types of personal protective equipment (PPE) covered by the survey are disinfectant, disinfectant wipes, disposable gowns, eye goggles, face shields, hand sanitizer, nitrile gloves, non-medical gloves, non-medical masks, respirators, reusable gowns, shoe or boot covers, surgical masks, and thermometers.

This release is based on data from the May 2021 Personal Protective Equipment Survey. This voluntary survey collects information on private sector businesses' supply, demand and inventories of PPE. Results from the May survey were based on responses from 4,886 businesses operating in Canada.

Products

The new study, "Navigating the third wave: Trends in businesses' needs for personal protective equipment since February 2021," is now available as part of the series StatCan COVID-19: Data to Insights for a Better Canada (Catalogue number45280001). Using data from the May Personal Protective Equipment Survey, this study examines the evolution of private sector businesses' demand for personal protective equipment since February 2021 and the concerns about lack of supply.

Contact information

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; STATCAN.infostats-infostats.STATCAN@canada.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; STATCAN.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.STATCAN@canada.ca).

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