Health Canada has sealed records related to vaccine injuries for 15 years, restricting public access to this information. This measure prevents details about vaccine injury reports from being disclosed for over a decade and applies to records held by Health Canada. The decision has led to concerns regarding transparency and public oversight of vaccine safety data.
https://www.westernstandard.news/news/health-canada-seals-vaccine-injury-records-for-15-years/70851
Health Canada Seals Vaccine Injury Records for 15 Years
Health Canada has confirmed it is withholding internal records related to vaccine and adverse drug injuries for up to 15 years, according to documents tabled in Parliament and reported by Western Standard News Services.
The records in question include vaccine and adverse drug reaction reports dating back to 1998. Health Canada says the delay is due to the “sheer scale” of the request, which originally involved several million pages of documents.
Even after the request was narrowed, the department confirmed the 15-year extension remains in place — one of the longest access-to-information delays currently acknowledged by the federal government.
The disclosure emerged after Conservative MP Colin Reynolds asked which Access to Information requests filed since 2020 were facing the longest delays.
Health Canada is not alone. The Public Health Agency of Canada also admitted to multi-year delays tied to pandemic-era records, including one request extended by more than five years, citing COVID-related backlogs, consultations, and disputes over scope.
Across the federal government, departments reported access delays ranging from two years to more than a decade. Public Works acknowledged a 27-year extension on one request. National Defence cited seven years. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency took eight years to process fewer than 70,000 pages.
These delays stand in stark contrast to the federal government’s 2015 promise that information would be “open by default.”
Internal emails released in 2019 already showed some departments weighing political and media considerations before releasing records — including whether a request carried a “high-profile” public or policy risk.
Sealing vaccine injury records for 15 years does not prove misconduct.
But it does ensure that public scrutiny, independent analysis, and accountability are postponed for a generation.
In matters of public health, delay is not neutral — it shapes what the public is allowed to know, and when.
