Ottawa Takes Over Vaccine Injury Support Program

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) has begun administration of the program compensating Canadians who were injured by vaccines, following complaints about the program’s operations.

The agency began administering the Vaccine Impact Assistance Program (VIAP), previously known as the Vaccine Injury Support Program, on April 1, 2026. The program will continue giving financial assistance to people vaccinated in Canada who experienced a “serious and permanent injury” from a Health Canada-authorized vaccine, administered after Dec. 8, 2020.

The Vaccine Injury Support Program (VISP) was created during the pandemic’s early days, after widespread rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine in Canada. The program does not apply in Quebec, where a separate compensation program is administered by the province.

PHAC said it will be focused on addressing the existing backlog of applicants while improving the consistency and transparency of the claims process. The agency also said it would draw from lessons learned from the previous iteration of the program, “as well as best practices from similar programs administered by Quebec and G7 partners.”

The federal government had signed a contract in 2021 with third-party administrator Oxaro to run VISP, but the contract expired on March 31. Oxaro had faced criticism in recent years for its handling of the program, with several Canadians alleging it was unequipped to handle the volume of claims.

A 2025 investigation by Global News found that $33.7 million of the $50.6 million Oxaro received for VISP had been spent on administrative costs. PHAC and Oxaro had also projected there would be 40 claims per year and then up to 400 valid claims annually, but more than 3,317 applications had been filed.

Several Canadians also told The Epoch Times in 2024 that the program was being insufficiently run, with long wait times, poor communication, a high turnover rate for case workers, and insufficient payouts for injuries.

A VISP spokesperson told The Epoch Times in a statement that the timelines for deciding the eligibility of vaccine-injured Canadians is determined by the complexity of the claim, noting that all claims are verified by medical experts.

Conservative MPs on the House of Commons health committee called for a special summer meeting to review VISP in July 2025, but were not successful. Conservative MP Dan Mazier later accused the Liberals of blocking the committee from investigating VISP.

A total of 3,317 claims had been received by VISP as of June 1, 2025. While 2,699 of those were admissible, 266 are pending eligibility, and 352 were rejected.

A total of 234 claims had been approved and were eligible for payment, while 420 Canadians have submitted appeals after their claims were rejected. The VISP website does not contain updated figures, noting the federal government has taken over the program.

Canadians who previously applied to VISP and have not received a decision will not need to re-apply, as their applications will be reviewed under VIAP. Canadians who are receiving financial support through VISP will also see their payments continue under the new program.

According to Health Canada, there were 11,702 “Adverse Events Following Immunization Reports” for COVID-19 vaccines that were deemed “serious,” while an additional 47,010 were deemed “non-serious.” The page has not been updated since January 2024.