I would like to thank the committee and the federal government for inviting MEDEC to present today. It was very much appreciated by our entire membership.
I want to give you a little background on MEDEC and the medical technology industry in Canada. John covered some of it already, but I'll go into a few more facts and then talk about your committee and give you the med-tech industry's perspective on a number of elements.
Let's talk about MEDEC. MEDEC is the national association representing the Canadian medical technology industry. We're funded by membership dues. Although we're a national association, we also have three regional offices or presence in Quebec, Ontario, and the west, as well as having our national office.
I think you might know already that the medical device and technology industry in Canada is composed of multinational enterprises and the very important small and medium enterprises that tend to be local Canadian companies as well as being small organizations.
Medical technology encompasses a wide range of health care products; it's very diverse. They're used to diagnose, monitor, or treat diseases or medical conditions affecting humans. There are so many different types of products in the medical technology industry. There are things such as pacemakers, scalpels, and synthetic skin. There are information and communications systems as well that allow medical devices to communicate with host centres. This really does build the possibility for support for community medicine.
It is estimated there are well over 1,000 medical device and technology companies in Canada; the vast majority—we estimate 60%—are small, Canadian-owned companies with fewer than 25 employees, so the ability of these companies to be in many different communities is quite realistic. The industry employs over 35,000 people in Canada, with over 1,500 corporate facilities, and as John talked about earlier, with sales of $6 to $7 billion.
Innovations, enhancing patient care, improving patient access to medical technology, and driving medical economic growth are priorities of MEDEC. MEDEC and our members are committed to being an integral partner in the delivery of high quality and sustainable health care in Canada. It is beneficial for us as Canadians, as patients, and as industry as well in terms of job creation.
We really want to make sure that our industry is there for sustainable health care in Canada and a strong contributor to the Canadian economy, ultimately providing patients with access to proven safe medical technologies. It's the driving factor behind everything we do.
MEDEC also includes a small to medium-sized business division called the Canadian MedTech Manufacturers' Alliance. As well as being regionally focused, we also have a division that is focusing on the unique needs of small organizations. We also partner regularly with other organizations, such as HTX and MaRS, because it is the only way of truly meeting the needs.
The Canadian MedTech Manufacturers' Alliance, or CMMA as we call it, is the affiliate within MEDEC whose members include small to medium companies that have up to $30 million in revenue. CMMA is dedicated to advancing the health care opportunities for Canadian med-tech companies domestically and internationally.
CMMA members are drivers of medical innovation, economic growth, and job creation. We, the broader MEDEC, with the MNEs, multinational enterprises, as well, are committed to ensuring their perspective is always heard by policy-makers in the marketplace.
Let's talk about some of the contributions of med tech in Canada. The medical technology industry not only creates jobs, but it creates good, high-paying, and highly skilled jobs in Canada. At the same time as creating these jobs, we produce products that improve the lives of patients and/or can save lives through higher quality health outcomes.
Medical technologies can also make a large contribution to the sustainability of the health care system. Better patient outcomes or diagnoses often lead to savings in the health care system, because if we have this, we're not going to need as many drugs, as long a hospital stay, or the increased need for care post-treatment.
That's the background on MEDEC and the industry from our perspective.
We understand that this committee is focusing primarily on health technology assessment in Canada, which we refer to as HTA, and also on the general theme of barriers to commercialization and research in Canada.
I'd like to take the remainder of my time to highlight some observations from the perspective of our industry.