About the Pan-Canadian Public Health Network
On this page
- Governance
- About the network
- Public Health Network Council
- Council of Chief Medical Officers of Health
- Public Health Network Secretariat
- Steering committees and working groups
- Special advisory committees
Governance
The Pan-Canadian Public Health Network (PHN) is composed of the PHN Council and the Council of Chief Medical Officers of Health (CCMOH). The PHN Council is accountable and reports to the Conference of Federal, Provincial and Territorial (FPT) Deputy Ministers of Health, which is accountable to FPT Ministers of Health.
The work of the PHN is supported by 3 steering committees that report to the PHN Council:
- Public Health Data Steering Committee(holds a dual reporting relationship with both the Conference of FPT Deputy Ministers of Health and the PHN Council)
- Communicable and Infectious Disease Steering Committee
- Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention Steering Committee
Steering committees may establish time-limited, expert-based task groups to advance the priorities of the PHN.
The work of the PHN is also supported by 3 working groups that report to the PHN Council:
- Indigenous Rights and Reconciliation Working Group
- PHN Communications Working Group
- Public Health Emergency Management Working Group
PHN steering committees and working groups draw Canada's best available public health expertise from a talented pool of:
- communities of practice
- FPT liaison committees
- government ministries and departments
- Indigenous organizations
- local, regional, and provincial and territorial health authorities
- national collaborating centres for public health
- non-governmental organizations
- provincial public health agencies
- research institutes and academia
Structure of the Public Health Network
About the network
Canada’s FPT Ministers of Health established the PHN in 2005 as the primary governance mechanism for intergovernmental collaboration to:
- address pan-Canadian public health priorities
- strengthen and enhance Canada's public health capacity
- anticipate, prepare for, and respond to public health events and threats
The PHN supports horizontal linkages across public health science, policy and program priorities through close collaboration of senior government decision makers and other key players in the public health system and related sectors.
In undertaking its work, the PHN:
- respects the authority and jurisdiction of each government to manage public health operations within their domain
- embraces the differences in how each jurisdiction exercises its public health responsibilities, establishes priorities and manages its public health infrastructure and resources
- recognizes that there is no 'one size fits all' approach to public health
- includes as part of the scope of its activities, collaboration with and participation of:
- Indigenous partners
- non-governmental organizations
- researchers
- other public health and multi-disciplinary experts
Vision
Our vision is for those living in Canada to benefit from an effective federation dedicated to collaboratively addressing current and emerging issues in public health.
To achieve this vision, the PHN advances work to:
- protect and promote the health of Canadians
- improve health outcomes and reduce health inequities
- promote the importance of public health in the development of a sustainable Canadian health system
Through this work, the PHN supports strengthened public health systems that:
- take collaborative action to improve health, health equity and the well-being of people living in Canada
- reduce the pressures on healthcare systems
Public Health Network Council
The PHN is governed by the PHN Council. The PHN Council is responsible for managing PHN priorities and deliverables in support of the PHN’s mandate. Accordingly, the PHN Council:
- ensures that the work of the PHN is regularly reported to the Conference of FPT Deputy Ministers of Health
- provides advice and direction to FPT Deputy Ministers of Health on public health policy and risks
- identifies shared public health priorities and develops strategies and resources to address them
- facilitates the sharing of best practices and learning across jurisdictions
- oversees the work of the PHN steering committees
- collaborates with and supports public health groups and organizations across Canada through guidance and technical resources
- translates research, science and evidence into policies, programs and practice to support public health
Membership
The PHN Council membership includes the following:
- federal co-chair
- provincial or territorial co-chair
- provincial or territorial deputy minister liaison
- members from each province and territory
- Health Canada representative
- Indigenous Services Canada representative
Ex-officio participants include up to 1 additional FPT participant (assistant deputy minister level from each jurisdiction).
Council of Chief Medical Officers of Health
The Council of Chief Medical Officers of Health supports the PHN Council on technical and emerging issues with a focus on:
- promoting excellence in population and public health decision making and practice through communication, collaboration, and the exchange of knowledge and best practices on public health issues, activities and concerns
- advocating and providing specific advice on measures that prevent disease and injury, and protect and promote the health of Canadians
- facilitating discussion and collaborative action on professional practice issues related to strengthening public health
- providing guidance and recommendations on technical public health issues relating to the work of the network, including on public health emergencies and crises
- providing integral feedback and evidence-based public health advice on a variety of public health initiatives to a range of stakeholders
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Membership
The Council of Chief Medical Officers of Health is led by a chair and vice chair who are selected by vote by the council’s membership for a 2-year term. This term may be renewed, if required, for a second 2-year term.
The membership of the council includes:
- the chief medical officer of health for each province and territory
- Canada's chief public health officer, Public Health Agency of Canada
- the most senior medical officer of health of Indigenous Services Canada
- chief medical officer of the First Nations Health Authority
- distinctions-based chief medical officers of health leading a jurisdictional health authority
Ex-officio members (non-voting) from federal government departments include senior physicians from:
- Health Canada
- the Department of National Defence
- Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
- Correctional Services Canada
Public Health Network Secretariat
The PHN Secretariat functions as the governance and operations management support for the PHN Council and Council of Chief Medical Officers of Health. It provides support to the members and facilitates collaboration and sharing of information within the PHN, including between PHN steering committees, working groups and their secretariats.
Key roles and responsibilities of the PHN Secretariat include:
- providing strong context, content and process knowledge of science, policy and program areas in public health that are of concern to the PHN Council
- providing strong decision making, governance and operations support to advance priorities for and on behalf of members
- providing broad context and intergovernmental policy support concerning the inter-governmental agenda and processes
- leading priority setting, planning, monitoring and reporting for the PHN
Steering committees and working groups
The work of the PHN is managed by 3 steering committees and 3 working groups. These groups provide advice and recommendations to the PHN Council on collaborative approaches to public health surveillance, policy and practice. Steering committees differ from working groups in that they may establish time-limited, expert-based task groups to advance the priorities of the PHN.
The membership of each steering committee and working group is composed of senior government officials appointed by their FPT jurisdictions.
Public Health Data Steering Committee
Provides strategic FPT and Indigenous (FPTI) leadership for building world-class pan-Canadian public health data systems. This includes:
- driving system changes for data-sharing and data-driven responses to public health challenges
- data and digital innovation within public health
This committee strives to promote consistency across FPT and Indigenous jurisdictions on digitally enabled data collection, sharing and use or re-use in public health, as it relates to governance, policy, data literacy and technical interoperability.
Communicable and Infectious Disease Steering Committee
Advances work on ongoing, emerging, and evolving issues across key infectious and communicable disease priorities. Through these activities, the committee aims to provide an integrated, national approach to communicable and infectious disease prevention and control where FPT collaboration is of mutual benefit.
Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention Steering Committee
Aims to develop a more integrated national approach to health promotion and chronic disease prevention through FPT and Indigenous coordination of national strategies and recommendations. Through its activities, this committee will play a key role in bringing greater attention to key public health areas, with a focus on upstream interventions. In so doing, the committee will:
- gather expertise and guide solution-focused work to advance the upstream public health prevention agenda
- put forward proactive solutions that improve the health of the population and reduce overall demand on the healthcare system
This committee is on a 1-year pilot.
Indigenous Rights and Reconciliation Working Group
Aims to support the PHN to meet its obligations to uphold the inherent rights of Indigenous Peoples by:
- identifying and arresting systemic white supremacy and anti-Indigenous racism in public health
- taking action on specific foundational commitments to Indigenous Peoples to advance a distinctions-based, Indigenous-led public health vision, including:
- Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action
- National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
- Two Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, and Asexual Plus (2SLGBTQQIA+) Calls for Justice
- Joyce’s Principle
PHN Communications Working Group
Provides risk communications advice and support to the PHN Council and the Council of Chief Medical Officers of Health on public health topics of cross-jurisdictional interest, during non-crisis and crisis times. They also support:
- special advisory committees (SACs) throughout their activation
- consistent and coordinated FPT public communications by providing a mechanism for timely information sharing of cross-jurisdictional interest
This committee provides a forum for FPT governments to:
- share information on communication approaches
- direct people in Canada to current information and guidance
- work together on common messaging
- coordinate messaging for joint FPT technical and media briefings
Public Health Emergency Management Working Group
Facilitates discussion and collaboration on emergency management issues from a pan-Canadian perspective. This committee:
- helps identify urgent and emerging issues
- provides leadership to advance the PHN’s priorities for emergency management, ensuring a focus on supporting populations most at risk
Emergency management activities under the PHN will:
- reflect the diverse needs of communities
- work to build capacity within First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities
- deliver against the specific desire to mitigate hazard impacts driven by health inequities
This committee collaborates with the steering committees and working groups of the PHN to:
- support the implementation of FPT emergency management deliverables, such as public health guidance and emergency plans (e.g., FPT Public Health Response Plan for Biological Events)
- identify opportunities for collaboration on health emergency management across jurisdictions
Special advisory committees
As per the terms of reference of the PHN and the FPT Public Health Response Plan for Biological Events, a time-limited FPT special advisory committee:
- may be established to lead a pan-Canadian response to a significant public health event in Canada
- has a mandate to provide advice to the FPT Conference of Deputy Ministers of Health on the coordination, public health policy and technical content related to a significant national public health event, emergency or crisis
When activated, a special advisory committee is composed of members of both the PHN Council and the Council of Chief Medical Officers of Health.
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Deactivated committees
COVID-19
In January 2020, the PHN activated the Special Advisory Committee on COVID-19 to facilitate a coordinated FPT response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As COVID-19 no longer constitutes a public health emergency of international concern, the committee was deactivated on July 6, 2023. Work continues under the PHN’s Communicable and Infectious Disease Steering Committee.
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Mpox
In July 2022, the PHN activated the FPT Special Advisory Committee on Mpox (monkeypox). As cases worldwide and in Canada continue to trend downwards, the committee was deactivated on December 15, 2022. Work continues through routine channels and governance structures, as we recognize the importance of continuing to monitor and report case data.
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Opioids
In December 2016, the PHN activated the Special Advisory Committee on the Epidemic of Opioid Overdoses (later renamed the Special Advisory Committee on Toxic Drug Poisonings). In October 2024, the PHN agreed that it would transition its efforts to support the collaborative work on the toxic drug crisis to the Council of Chief Medical Officers of Health. This will allow for a more sustainable governance mechanism and enable public health leadership to continue to assess and communicate the best available evidence to act and report on the state of the crisis across Canada.
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