As such, historically each province has managed their own pharmaceutical system, from formularies to public prescription drug programs, in different ways.
[4] In 1989, the CDA's predecessor, the Canadian Coordinating Office for Health Technology Assessment (CCOHTA), was created by the federal government in response to this challenge.
[3][6] The limited scope of the CADTH, which was primarily concerned with technical expertise, proved ineffective at handling issues of inadequate infrastructure, poor return on investment, duplication of resources, and above all, "fragmentation" in the country's pharmaceutical system.
As part of an effort to resolve these problems and improve coordination, for example by standardizing the collection of pharmaceutical data, the federal government established the Canadian Drug Agency Transition Office (CDATO) in 2021.
[2][8][9] The same year, CDATO began holding consultations with various stakeholders, including healthcare professionals, private insurers, medical institutions, academia, and research organizations.