The federal government spent more than $46 million on advertising, marketing and influencer campaigns to promote COVID-19 vaccines, but says it cannot provide a comprehensive accounting of how much money was spent researching vaccine risks and adverse effects.

The figures were disclosed in response to an order paper question submitted by Conservative MP Cathay Wagantall, who asked for a detailed breakdown of federal spending related to COVID-19 vaccine research, promotion, public education and risk communication.

According to the response from Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada, the government ran a series of vaccine promotion campaigns between 2021 and 2023 costing at least $46.7 million.

Among the largest expenditures were:

• $11.3 million for the "COVID-19 Vaccine – Ripple Effect" campaign in 2021;
• $7 million for the "COVID-19 Vaccine – Kids" campaign;
• $5.3 million for the "COVID-19 Vaccine – Ask the Experts" campaign;
• $4.9 million for the "Educate and Build Trust" campaign;
• $4.8 million for the "Parents" campaign;
• More than $132,000 for a dedicated social media influencer campaign.

The government said the campaigns were intended to promote awareness of vaccine availability and provide Canadians with “science-based, factual information” about vaccine safety, effectiveness, side effects and eligibility. Advertising appeared across television, radio, social media, digital platforms, print media, search engines and outdoor advertising.

When asked how much money was spent investigating and researching the risks and adverse effects of COVID-19 vaccines, however, Health Canada responded that the information is “not systematically tracked in a centralized database.”

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The department said producing a complete response would require a manual collection and validation process that could result in incomplete or inaccurate information.

The government also declined to provide a dollar figure for spending specifically dedicated to informing Canadians about vaccine risks and adverse effects, instead grouping risk information together with broader vaccine education and promotion efforts.

Health Canada noted that its regulators reviewed 189 COVID-19 vaccine submissions between October 2020 and February 2026 and maintained that benefits and risks were often evaluated together as part of the approval process.

Separately, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research reported investing more than $74 million in COVID-19 vaccine research since 2019-20, though it said it does not centrally track the specific information requested in the Order Paper question.

The response leaves unanswered one of the key questions raised by Wagantall: how much taxpayer money was directed toward studying and communicating potential vaccine risks compared to the tens of millions spent promoting vaccine uptake.