Minister of Health (Canada)
The minister of health (French: ministre de la santé) is the minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for overseeing health-focused government agencies including Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada, as well as enforcing the Canada Health Act, the law governing Canada's universal health care system.
Minister of Health
Monarch (represented by the governor general);[3]
on the advice of the prime minister[4]
July 12, 1996
The current minister is Mark Holland.[6]
The minister is responsible for the federal government's Health Portfolio, which comprises:[7]
As of 2023, the Health Portfolio consists of approximately 12,000 full-time equivalent employees and an annual budget of over $3.8 billion.[7]
History[edit]
The first Department of Health in Canada was established in 1919, and unlike most other departments, had no designated minister.[8] The president of the Privy Council was the first designated to manage the department,[9] which was followed by the minister of immigration and colonization in 1921 under Arthur Meighen,[10] then the minister of soldiers' civil re-establishment later that year under William Lyon Mackenzie King.[11] The minister of soldiers' civil re-establishment managed the Department of Health through the next Meighen[12] and King[13] governments.
In 1928, the Department of Health and minister of soldiers' civil re-establishment were abolished and replaced with the Department and minister of pensions and national health.[14] In 1944, the position was again split into two roles, with the war veteran portfolio going to the minister of veterans affairs,[15] and the rest of the portfolio moving to the minister of national health and welfare.[16]
The role of minister of national health and welfare was abolished in 1996, and replaced with the current minister of health. Jane Philpott was the first medical doctor to hold the post.[17]