An internal memo from Health Canada shows that the federal government still holds a stock of 39 million additional rapid tests for COVID-19, as it struggles to dispose of them without throwing them in the trash.

When the Omicron variant of the virus began spreading across Canada at the end of 2021, the government quickly purchased rapid antigen tests and distributed most of them to the provinces so that people could test themselves for the virus at home.

Now, with fewer people subjecting themselves to the tickle sensation of COVID-19 testing outside hospitals and other healthcare settings, it seems the government has more than it knows what to do with.

Rapid tests were considered important and valuable in early 2022, as routine testing capacity was reserved only for specific cases in most provinces. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Canada has spent nearly $5 billion on rapid tests.

Even after the initial surge in Omicron cases stabilized, the government continued to stockpile tests in case the country experienced another major wave of infections.

This wave never came, and with the gradual lifting of public health restrictions, the government found itself with a stockpile of about 93 million tests as of March 21.

Health Canada stated in a release that by July 25, the test stockpile still stood at over 90 million.

While provinces and territories now have enough supplies to conduct eight tests for each Canadian, Health Canada plans to keep up to 55 million in reserve in preparation for the next emergency, leaving an additional 39 million by the end of March.

For its part, the task force proposed several means to offload the tests, but each has its own challenges, as the biggest obstacle is their short shelf life—typically lasting only a year or two.

So far, no tests have been wasted, although the administration says that 2.1 million tests are either damaged or expired or deemed "non-compliant" and cannot be distributed.

The department has also recommended shipping tests abroad to countries that need them or even paying manufacturers to take back the tests. But so far, none of these things have happened.

In a written statement, Health Canada said that some tests are being donated to nonprofit organizations, public institutions, and charities through GCDonate, which is part of the government’s online surplus site. They are also being shared among government departments for employee testing programs.