Program directory · Patented Medicine Prices Review Board Canada
Pharmaceutical Trends Program
- Program code
- BYU01 (PMPRB)
- Core responsibility
- Monitor Patented Medicine Prices
- In Departmental Plans
- 2025-26 – 2026-27 · New since an earlier plan
What it does
As required by the Patent Act, the PMPRB reports annually to Parliament on its activities for the previous year, pricing trends of all patented medicines, and research and development expenditures reported to the PMPRB by pharmaceutical rights holders through the Minister of Health. In addition, as a result of a request from the federal Minister of Health under section 90 of the Act, the PMPRB prepares reports for the Minister that contain critical analyses of price, utilization, and cost trends for patented and non-patented medicines. These reports enable the Minister to identify, anticipate, and respond to cost drivers in pharmaceutical spending. As they are also made available on the PMPRB’s website, these studies serve as a source of accurate and impartial information for decision-makers and other interested members of the public on a variety of pharmaceutical-related topics.
Source: the department's Program Inventory, via GC InfoBase.
History and lineage
First appears in the Departmental Plans in 2025-26. The data does not record when a program was created; it may be older than its first appearance here, which is limited by the sources (program spending starts in 2010-11, Departmental Plans in 2018-19).
| Program | Relation | Years with data | Actual spending over those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pharmaceutical Trends Program | Earlier program (name match, high confidence) | 2018-19 – 2026-27 | $13.2M |
| Pharmaceutical Trends Program | This program | 2025-26 – 2028-29 | — |
Significant changes in scope and budget
Detected from the data: renames between plans, programs it appears to replace, merge with or split into (matched by name), year-over-year changes in spending of at least 25% and $5M, or in employees of at least 20% and 25 FTEs, linked budget measures, and results indicators added or dropped.
| Year | What changed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | Appears to replace Pharmaceutical Trends Program | Canada Spends name match across plans (an inference) |
Success criteria
The program's indicators from its department's Departmental Results Framework: the target set in each year's plan, and the result reported the following year. Source: GC InfoBase.
Historical: targets against results
No results reported yet.
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≤ 12 | 2027 | — | Planned |
Future goals: targets due after 2026-27
No targets with a later due date.
Spending and employees: planned against actual
Spending
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | $2.3M | — |
| 2026-27 | $2.4M | — |
| 2027-28 | $2.4M* | — |
| 2028-29 | $2.1M* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 15 | — |
| 2026-27 | 15 | — |
| 2027-28 | 15* | — |
| 2028-29 | 15* | — |
Planned spending, plan by plan
Each row is one year's Departmental Plan and its forecast for the next three fiscal years; read a column down to see how the forecast for one year changed. The last row is what was actually spent. Click an amount for its source. Biggest changes in federal spending plans
| Plan | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 plan | $2,343,152 | $2,346,810 | $2,346,810 | |
| 2026-27 plan | $2,364,501 | $2,364,501 | $2,142,182 | |
| Actual |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
