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Public Health Agency of Canada

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC; French: Agence de la santé publique du Canada, ASPC) is an agency of the Government of Canada that is responsible for public health, emergency preparedness and response, and infectious and chronic disease control and prevention.

Not to be confused with Health Canada, the department of the federal government responsible for general health policy and regulation.

Agency overview

2004 (2004)

4,211 (March 2023)[1]

$675.4 million (2018–19)[2]

  • National Microbiology Laboratory, Centre for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control (CIDPC), Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response (CEPR), Laboratory for Foodborne Zoonoses (LFZ),Pandemic Preparedness Secretariat (PPS)Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention Branch (HPCDP)
  • Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Control (CCDPC), Centre for Health Promotion (CHP), Transfer Payment Services and Accountability Division, Public Health Practice (PHPRO), Office of Public Health Practice (OPHP), Strategic Policy, Communications and Corporate Services Branch (SPCCS)

Marina Salvadori, Public Health Agency of Canada (Co-chair)

Michael Rieder, (Co-chair)

University of Western Ontario

Marie Lordkipanidze,

Université de Montréal

Richard Hall,

Dalhousie University

Micheline Piquette-Miller,

University of Toronto

Abby Collier,

University of British Columbia

Srinivas Murthy,

University of British Columbia

Jonathan Kimmelman,

McGill University

Chief Public Health Officer

Chief Science Officer

Senior Assistant Deputy Minister—Population and Public Health Integration Branch

Assistant Deputy Minister—Infectious Disease and Emergency Preparedness

Deputy CPHO—Health Protection and Chronic Disease Prevention Branch

Vice-President, Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention Branch

Executive Director—Corporate Secretariat

Vice-President, Health Security Infrastructure Branch

Vice-President, Strategic Policy and Planning Branch

[35]

The president is a Governor in Council appointment for a term of five years.[30] While in early years of the PHAC the President of the organization was identical to the Chief Public Health Officer, who is required by law to be a scientist, the Harper government innovated to manage the organization via the more malleable civil service, and a split personality developed with the twin agencies of President and CPHO.


The post of President is presently held by Iain Stewart, who was appointed on 21 September 2020 to replace Tina Namiesniowski.[17] Vice-president of the Health Security Infrastructure Branch Sally Thornton[31] was also dismissed on 15 September in the midst of controversy over the disbandment of the GPHIN system.[32]


The chief public health officer (CPHO) is Canada's lead health professional. The CPHO is also a Governor-in-Council appointment whose role is to provide advice both to the Minister of Health and to the President of the PHAC. Dr. Theresa Tam was named CPHO on June 26, 2017.[33]


The Public Health Agency of Canada Act[34] empowers the CPHO to communicate with other levels of government, voluntary organizations, the private sector and Canadians on public health issues. Each year, the CPHO is required to submit a report to the Minister of Health on the state of public health in Canada.


The PHAC houses several bureaucrats:


Because the portfolio at the PHAC crosses so many boundaries, and especially jurisdictional ones, the civil servants have evolved what are known as Special Advisory Committees (SAC), which include Federal/Provincial/Territorial (FPT) officials such as deputy ministers of health, so as to attempt to ensure a timely response to the needs of Canadians.


The Public Health Network Council (PHNC) is an FPT committee that is co-chaired by the deputy CPHO, Dr Howard Njoo. The PHNC is populated by an array of directors, deputies, chiefs, experts and coordinators, from far and wide the public health guardians of Canada.


The FPT SAC on Public Health Response Plan for Biological Events has been in place since at least October 2017:[9]

National Emergency Stockpile System

National Antiviral Stockpile

Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Branch

Prion Diseases Program

[48]

Disease Control and Detection

Research and Statistics

Health Education

10/2023: "Creating the Conditions for Resilient Communities: A Public Health Approach to Emergencies"

10/2022: "Mobilizing Public Health Action on Climate Change in Canada"

12/2021: "A Vision to Transform Canada's Public Health System"

10/2020: "From risk to resilience – An equity approach to COVID-19"

12/2019: "Addressing Stigma – Towards a More Inclusive Health System"

06/2019: "Preserving Antibiotics Now and Into the Future"

10/2018: "Preventing Problematic Substance Use in Youth Report"

03/2018: "Spotlight on Eliminating Tuberculosis in Canada"

10/2017: "Designing Healthy Living"

12/2016: "Health Status of Canadians 2016: A Report of the Chief Public Health Officer"

10/2016: "A Focus on Family Violence in Canada"

02/2016: "Alcohol Consumption in Canada"

09/2016: "Public Health in the Future"

09/2013: "Infectious Disease – The Never-ending Threat"

10/2012: "Influencing Health – The Importance of Sex and Gender"

11/2011: "Youth and Young Adults - Life in Transition"

10/2010: "Growing Older – Adding Life to Years"

10/2009: "Growing Up Well – Priorities for a Healthy Future"

06/2008: "Growing Up Well – Addressing Health Inequalities"

List of national public health agencies

VSV-EBOV

Official website

Public Health Agency of Canada – Public Health InfoBase

National Microbiology Laboratory

Bill C-5 – Public Health Agency of Canada Act