Special Access Programme

Health Canada, through its Special Access Programme (SAP), allows doctors to gain access to non-marketed drugs that have not yet been approved for sale in Canada.

The Special Access Programme (SAP) provides access to nonmarketed drugs for practitioners treating patients with serious or life-threatening conditions when conventional therapies have failed, are unsuitable, or unavailable. The SAP authorizes a manufacturer to sell a drug that cannot otherwise be sold or distributed in Canada. Drugs considered for release by the SAP include pharmaceutical, biologic, and radio-pharmaceutical products not approved for sale in Canada.

Special Access Programme Fact Sheet, Guidance Document and Special Access Request Form