2022 Veterinary Antimicrobial Sales Highlights Report

Working towards the preservation of effective antimicrobials for humans and animals.

The Veterinary Antimicrobial Sales Reporting (VASR) system data provides a comprehensive picture of medically important antimicrobials available for veterinary use in Canada and supports our overall antimicrobial resistance surveillance program and stewardship. Antimicrobials have been grouped according to their importance in human medicine, and this report reflects the integration, analysis and interpretation of submitted data. Trends in sales of antimicrobials may differ from trends in actual antimicrobial use for many reasons (e.g. not all antimicrobials sold are used within a calendar year) and data in this report where possible, should be considered along with end-user information on antimicrobial use and resistance. Unless specified, this document describes sales reported by manufacturers and importers, and excludes compounders to avoid double counting of sales.

For trends across years it is important to note that the first two years of data collection (2018 and 2019) overlap with the time of regulatory and policy changes implemented by Health Canada to promote the responsible use of antimicrobials in animals.