Overview

The Pan-Canadian Public Health Network (PHN) is a network of individuals across Canada from many sectors and levels of government, who effectively work together to strengthen public health in Canada.

The PHN is a forum for public health experts from across Canada to come together, to raise issues and lay plans – and to make connections – for the benefit of all Canadians.

A key to the PHN’s effectiveness lies in its connectedness. The Pan-Canadian Public Health Network takes a collaborative approach to public health that is not only critical during public health emergencies – but also to assisting jurisdictions across Canada in gaining a stronghold on public health issues, such as obesity, and other chronic and communicable disease.

Creation

The Pan-Canadian Public Health Network was established by Canada’s Federal, Provincial and Territorial (F/P/T) Health Ministers in 2005, as a key intergovernmental mechanism to:

  • Strengthen and enhance Canada's public health capacity,
  • Enable F/P/T governments to better work together on the day-to-day business of public health, and
  • Anticipate, prepare for, and respond to public health events and threats.
 

Pan-Canadian Public Health Network (PHN)

VISION

Canadians benefit from an effective federation dedicated to collaboratively addressing current and emerging issues in public health.

MANDATE

  • Facilitate information sharing among all jurisdictions;
  • Disseminate information regarding best-practices in public health;
  • Support the public health challenges jurisdictions face during emergencies;
  • Provide advice and regular reporting to F/P/T Deputy Minister of Health on public health matters and the activities of the Network;
  • Collaborate on the day-to-day operations of public health;
  • Respect jurisdictional responsibilities in public health; and,
  • Be accountable to the Conference of Federal/Provincial/Territorial (F/P/T) Deputy Minister of Health.

STRATEGIC GOALS

  1. To protect and promote the health of Canadians
  2. To promote the importance of public health in the development of a sustainable Canadian Health System
  3. To improve health outcomes and reduce health inequalities

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES

Promote: Promote Healthy Living and Reduce Health Inequalities
Prevent and Control: Prevent and Control Persistent and Emerging Infectious Diseases
Prepare: Prepare for and Respond to Public Health Emergencies
Build: Build Public Health Infrastructure and Organizational Supports

2018-2022 STRATEGIC PRIORITIES

  1. Reducing health inequalities
  2. Healthy living
  3. Sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections
  4. National Immunization Strategy/Vaccine preventable disease
  5. Zoonotic (Lyme disease and other vector borne disease)
  6. Implementation of the Blueprint for a Federated System for Public Health Surveillance
  7. Public health workforce
  8. Public health emergency preparedness and management

What the Network does

The Pan-Canadian Public Health Network ensures that Canada is better prepared for future public health events by:

  • fostering cooperative and collaborative approaches on public health matters;
  • establishing, maintaining and implementing instruments, initially in the form of collaborative public health strategies, formal inter-jurisdictional arrangements, and a framework for a common approach to public health legislation and regulation;
  • facilitating collaboration and mutual aid across jurisdictions during public health crises and urgent situations;
  • establishing consensus-based priorities helping governments focus and refine their public health investments and resources;
  • encouraging processes for developing, implementing, maintaining and updating standards, guidelines, and best practices in the public health field;
  • negotiating arrangements which will govern intergovernmental collaboration in the day-to-day business of public health;
  • facilitating processes whereby applied research can be best translated into policies, programs and practice; and,
  • developing strong and robust public health partnerships between governments, academics, researchers, non-government organizations and health professionals.

In undertaking its work, the Network:

  • respects the authority and jurisdiction of each government to manage public health operations within their own domain;
  • embraces the differences in how each jurisdiction exercises its public health responsibilities, establishes priorities and manages its public health infrastructure;
  • recognizes that there is no 'one size fits all' approach to public health; and,
  • includes as part of the scope of the Network's activities, collaboration with, and participation of, non-governmental organizations, researchers, academics and other public health experts.