The National Antiviral Stockpile (NAS) is a federal Government of Canada response to the needs of the health care system in case of an emergency.
[1] The NAS was begun immediately after the SARS pandemic that hit hospitals in Toronto particularly hard.
While province of Ontario SARS Commissioner Justice Archie Campbell refrained from issuing any recommendations to form a stockpile, such need existed in the mind of the Martin government, who tasked their newly-instantiated Chief Public Health Officer of Canada with its roll-out.
Antivirals in this stockpile are used for early treatment in an emergency, targeting those who are deemed to be most at risk of serious morbidity and mortality.
It was agreed that antivirals would be distributed on a per capita basis to the provinces and territories, each of which would have responsibility for care and control under the terms of a national agreement for use.