Minister of Health Pocket Book - April 2025

A. Health portfolio highlights

Portfolio organizations

Health Canada (HC)
Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC)
Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB)

Deputy minister and agency heads

Greg Orencsak, Deputy Minister – HC
Nancy Hamzawi, Acting President – PHAC
D^r. Theresa Tam, Chief Public Health Officer – PHAC
Paul MacKinnon, President – CFIA
D^r. Paul Hébert, President – CIHR
Anie Perrault, Acting Chair – PMPRB

2024-25 budget and full-time equivalents (FTEs)

HC: $9,536,000,000 / 9,072 FTEs
PHAC: $2,191,000,000/ 4,038 FTEs
CFIA: $1,063,980,636 / 6,643 FTEs
CIHR: $1,369,600,000 / 589 FTEs
PMPRB: $17 750 000 / 81 FTEs

B. Health portfolio overview

The Minister of Health is responsible for maintaining and improving the health of Canadians.

The Health Portfolio's main activities include:

Supporting Canada's health care system;
Enabling access to quality, safe and effective health products;
Managing risks to health;
Supporting the health and wellbeing of Canadians and promoting safe and healthy choices;
Responding to public health emergencies; and
Supporting health research and science.

Health Canada

Helps make Canada's population among the healthiest in the world.
Protects Canadians from unsafe food, health, and consumer products and environmental exposures.
Supports Canada's health care system through administration of the Canada Health Act and various funding agreements.
Informs Canadians so they can make healthy choices.
Works with partners, including provinces and territories, on priority issues such as mental health, substance use, oral health, and health workforce.

Public Health Agency of Canada

Protects the health of Canadians by providing national leadership in anticipating, preparing for and responding to public health events and emergencies, and providing timely public health information to prevent disease and issues of concern.
Promotes the wellbeing of Canadians by preventing the spread of infectious diseases, chronic disease and injury.
Supports Canadians in making healthy choices by promoting healthy behaviour and practices.
Supports public health action through surveillance, evidence and public education, and promotes the use of evidence by public health practitioners and policy makers.

Canadian Food Inspection Agency

Safeguards Canada's food supply to keep Canadians safe and healthy.
Protects Canada's plant and animal resources from pests and diseases.
Supports Canadian food businesses as they compete, innovate and grow in domestic and global markets.
Reports through the Minister of Health except in agriculturally focused areas, such as the facilitation of market access, animal health, and plant protection, where the Agency reports through the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food.

Canadian Institutes of Health Research

Supports research and innovation to improve the health of Canadians, solve health challenges and make our health care system more efficient and effective.
Invests approximately 1.4 billion dollars annually to support over 16,000 world-class researchers and trainees, supporting biomedical, clinical, health systems services, and social, cultural, environmental, and population health research pillars.
Composed of 13 "virtual" institutes focusing on a specific area of research. Each institute is led by an internationally renowned scientist and works on a broad spectrum of research in its topic areas.
Supports Canada's research ecosystem by working closely with other federal granting agencies (the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council), and with other domestic and international partners.
Provides research evidence to policy makers to develop sound, evidence-based policies on health priorities.

Patented Medicine Prices Review Board

Implements its regulatory mandate at arm's length (i.e. independently) from the Minister of Health, due to its quasi-judicial nature.
Monitors the prices of patented medicines to ensure that they are not excessive.
Reports on trends in pharmaceutical sales and pricing for all medicines and on research and development (R&D) spending by patentees.

C. Legislation and responsibilities

The Health Portfolio administers and enforces various acts and regulations, directly impacting the health and safety of Canadians.
The Health Portfolio takes a risk-based approach to provide regulatory oversight throughout the lifecycle of a wide range of products, including drugs, medical devices, veterinary drugs, cosmetics, consumer products, natural health products, food, chemicals and pesticides, workplace hazardous products, as well as biosafety and biosecurity of pathogens and toxins.
Some key legislation for which the Minister of Health is responsible includes:
- Canada Health Act: establishes the criteria and conditions provincial and territorial health insurance plans must meet to receive their full cash entitlements under the Canada health transfer.
- Food and Drugs Act and Pest Control Products Act: authorizes safe food, drugs, cosmetics, and medical devices; and pesticides, respectively.
- Cannabis Act: establishes a strict legal framework for controlling the production, distribution, sale and possession of cannabis across Canada.
- Controlled Drugs and Substances Act: governs the control of substances such as narcotics and controlled drugs, including licensing, inspections, and compliance enforcement.
- Tobacco and Vaping Products Act: regulates the manufacture, sale, labeling and promotion of tobacco and vaping products.

D. Key messages

I am honoured to be appointed Minister of Health.
I look forward to working collaboratively with my Cabinet colleagues and provincial-territorial counterparts, Indigenous partners, and stakeholders.
I look forward to being briefed on the pressing issues affecting the health and safety of Canadians.

If pressed on specific Health Portfolio issues:

I will soon be meeting with officials from the Health Portfolio. I welcome the opportunity to speak with you in more depth on this issue in the weeks to come.

E. Priority issues

Health care system

Canada's health care systems offer universal, public coverage for hospital and physician-equivalent services, supported by a mix of publicly funded programs and private health insurance for other services.
Provinces and territories are responsible for delivering health care services to Canadians.
While Canadians value Canada's universal public health care system, many suggest health care in their jurisdiction is in a state of crisis.

Federal health care funding

Provision of funding to support provinces and territories' administration and delivery of health care services is one of the key roles played by the federal government in Canada's health care system.
The Canada health transfer is the main federal funding mechanism to support Canada's health care system — providing long-term, predictable funding to provinces and territories.
The federal government also provides targeted funding to provinces and territories through bilateral agreements in priority areas such as primary care, mental health, home care and long-term care.

Canadian dental care plan (CDCP)

The CDCP is a public insurance plan that helps to ease financial barriers to accessing oral health care services and aims to make the cost of dental care more affordable for uninsured individuals with annual family net incomes under $90,000.
Over 3.4 million Canadian residents have enrolled in the CDCP and in 2025, an additional 4.25 million Canadian residents (aged 18-64) will be eligible to enroll in the plan as of May 1, 2025.

Pharmacare

The Pharmacare Act establishes principles for a pharmacare program and provides the Minister of Health with power to make payments to PTs through bilateral agreements in relation to universal, single-payer, first dollar coverage of prescription drugs and related products for contraception and diabetes.
As of March 2025, bilateral agreements have been signed with Manitoba, British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, and Yukon.

Medical assistance in dying (MAID)

Medical assistance in dying (MAID) is delivered by provincial and territorial health systems as part of end-of-life or complex care in accordance with minimum eligibility criteria safeguards set out in the Criminal Code, and available to eligible Canadians suffering intolerably from a grievous and irremediable medical condition to end their life.
Health Canada works closely with provinces and territories and stakeholders to support the safe and appropriate implementation of MAID in Canada. It also collects, monitors and reports on data on the number and circumstances of MAID requests and provisions annually.
Quebec has brought into force its provincial legislative framework for advance requests for MAID. An advance request is a request for MAID by an individual who still has capacity to make health care decisions but is not yet eligible for MAID. Their intent is that MAID be provided in the future after they have lost the capacity to consent but are eligible to receive MAID, and when certain conditions that they specify in their advance request are met.

Overdose crisis, including Canada's border plan

In Canada, over 50,000 people have died from opioid toxicities since 2016. In the last five years, 21 people died each day, impacting families and communities across the country.
Drugs like fentanyl, and other synthetic opioids are flooding the illegal drug supply.
Their unpredictability and potency have posed significant challenges for Canada's public health and public safety systems.
Health Canada is working to help law and border enforcement detect and address fentanyl and its precursors.
In 2025, Canada developed a new $1.3 billion border plan that includes the creation of a new Canadian drug analysis centre, a new precursor risk management unit, and a strengthened regulatory oversight for precursor chemicals.

Mental health

Mental illness affects 1 in 5 Canadians annually, with 1 in 2 Canadians having experienced a mental health challenge by the age of 40. Young people, especially those aged 15-24, face the highest rates of mental health and substance use disorders.
The Health Portfolio plays a critical role by providing funding to provinces and territories and community organizations, supporting interjurisdictional collaboration and funding research to support effective and equitable mental health policy and practice.

Suicide prevention and 9-8-8

Every year, approximately 4,500 people die by suicide in Canada – approximately 12 deaths every day.
Services like the 9-8-8 suicide prevention helpline offer help and support to those in distress, anywhere in Canada.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5N1)

Since March 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has detected A(H5N1) in unpasteurized milk from dairy cattle in some areas of the U.S., as well as A(H5N1) virus fragments in pasteurized milk sold in stores. The U.S. also confirmed human cases, with exposure to suspected infected dairy cattle and poultry.
In February 2025, Health Canada authorized an H5N1 vaccine, and the Public Health Agency of Canada secured the supply of this vaccine as part of our readiness and potential use, as needed, based on risk conditions.
As of April 2025, no cases of A(H5N1) have been detected in dairy cows in Canada. On November 13, 2024, PHAC confirmed the first human case of H5N1 avian influenza. This was likely due to exposure to an infected wild bird, although the exact cause was not found by the provincial health officer for British Columbia.

Multijurisdictional measles outbreak

Measles, a vaccine-preventable disease, is now re-emerging with sharp increases globally due to changes in vaccine adoption.
As of March 28, 2025, Canada is currently facing two outbreaks that have been ongoing for several months totalling 636 cases across 5 provinces (New Brunswick, Ontario, Manitoba, Quebec and Alberta).
The majority of the cases in Canada are unvaccinated children who are particularly at risk for severe outcomes when under 2 years of age. Measles vaccination is highly effective in limiting transmission and preventing severe outcomes.
Successful measles vaccination programs are an important part of controlling and eliminating measles circulation in Canada.
Provinces, territories (PT), and local public health units are responsible for delivering public health programs, including vaccination programs and investigation and follow-up of measles cases and outbreaks.
PHAC provides support with technical advice, assistance with laboratory testing, and by coordinating knowledge exchange during multijurisdictional outbreaks.

F. Key contacts

Prime Minister's office switchboard
Tel: 613-992-4211
Minister's office reception
Tel: 613-957-0200

Health Canada
Greg Orencsak, Deputy Minister
[Redacted]
Email: greg.orencsak@hc-sc.gc.ca

Eric Costen
Associate Deputy Minister
[Redacted]
Email: eric.costen@hc-sc.gc.ca

Public Health Agency of Canada
Nancy Hamzawi
Acting President
[Redacted]
Email: nancy.hamzawi@phac-aspc.gc.ca

Dr. Theresa Tam
Chief Public Health Officer
[Redacted]
[Redacted]

Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Paul MacKinnon
President
[Redacted]
Email: paul.macKinnon@inspection.gc.ca

Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Dr. Paul Hébert
President
Cell : 343-548-0378
Email: paul.hebert@cihr-irsc.gc.ca

Patented Medicine Prices Review Board
Anie Perrault
Acting Chairperson
[Redacted]
Email: anie.perrault@pmprb-cepmb.gc.ca

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Date modified:: 2025-08-22

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