Surveys indicate that Canadians get less than six hours of sleep a night on average, two hours short of the recommended stretch.

What would be a good solution to the sleep deficit -- more sleep, or a pill to help people cope better with lack of sleep?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is considering approving for wider use a drug that might help the sleep deprived stay alert and healthy.

Modalfinal was first approved in the 1990s by the FDA and Health Canada for treatment of daytime sleepiness related to narcolepsy.

Modafinil is marketed by Cephalon, Inc. in the United States under the name Provigil. The company is asking the FDA to consider the drug for improving wakefulness in patients with excessive sleepiness associated with shift work sleep disorder, and in patients with obstructive sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome.

Sleep deprivation can lead to increased risk of diabetes, as well as heart problems and shorter lifespans. But researchers still aren't sure how Modafinil works, and whether it will help with these kinds of effects.

Dr. Diane Boivin, with the psychiatry department at Montreal's Douglas Hospital Research Centre, has looked into shift workers' sleep troubles. She told CTV News that Modafinil is a good drug that could help emergency workers who need to work nights, but it shouldn't be put into general use.

"There's a choice of society to be made and we should try to limit this 24 hour society," Boivin said. "It's still not normal to be up at night."

Shire Biochem sells the drug under the name Alertec in Canada. The company said that for now, it has not filed the paperwork to seek approval for wider use in Canada.