The terms of reference for appointing Canada’s first fentanyl czar will be finalized by the end of the week, Public Safety Minister David McGuinty said Thursday, who also committed the government to “absolutely” filling the role by the time the country reaches the end of its 30-day reprieve period from U.

According to McGuinty, less than one per cent of Fentanyl entering the United States is coming from Canada and, in 2024, American authorities seized 43 pounds of the deadly narcotic entering the U.S. During that same twelve-month period, the Minister says 21,000 pounds was apprehended coming into the States from its southern border with Mexico.

Public Safety Minister David McGuinty says Canada's new "fentanyl czar" will be appointed before U.S. President Donald Trump's next deadline for imposing sweeping tariffs on Canadian goods.