It supplies about one third of the domestic pharmaceutical consumer market of $27 billion annually.
The majority of large pharmaceutical companies are headquartered in Montreal, Quebec.
in 1887, the first foreign-owned subsidiary was started in Windsor by the American firm Parke, Davis and Company.
This branch-plant operation was primarily set up to take advantage of Canadian tariff laws designed to protect domestic manufacturers from foreign competition.
Canada hosts several large public (Bausch Health) and private (Apotex) pharmaceutical companies as well as many subsidiaries (Buckley's) of larger international companies.