Corporate information: Departmental Results Report 2022-2023 Public Health Agency of Canada

Raison d'être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do

Raison d'être

Public health involves the organized efforts of society that aim to keep people healthy and to prevent illness, injury and premature death. The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) has put in place programs, services and policies to help protect and promote the health of all Canadians and residents of Canada. In Canada, public health is a responsibility that is shared by all three levels of government in collaboration with the private sector, non-governmental organizations, health professionals and the public.

PHAC was created within the federal Health Portfolio to deliver on the Government of Canada's commitment to increase its focus on public health in order to help protect and improve the health and safety of all Canadians and to contribute to strengthening public health capacities across Canada.

Mandate and role

PHAC has the responsibility to:

• Contribute to the prevention of disease and injury and to the promotion of health;
• Enhance surveillance information and expand the knowledge of disease and injury in Canada;
• Provide federal leadership and accountability in managing national public health events;
• Strengthen intergovernmental collaboration on public health and facilitate national approaches to public health policy and planning; and,
• Serve as a central point for sharing public health expertise across Canada and with international partners and to use this knowledge to inform and support Canada's public health priorities.

For more information on the Agency's organizational mandate letter commitments, see the mandate letters for the Minister of Health and Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health.

Operating context

PHAC operates in a complex, interconnected and evolving environment where drivers such as social determinants of health, climate change and advancements in technology affect the health of Canadians. PHAC continues to adapt its resources, such as human resources and skillsets, tools, processes and partnerships to maintain the capacity to rapidly and effectively prevent, detect and respond to emerging global and domestic public health events and continue keeping Canadians healthy and safe from emerging threats.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is reinforcing the importance of PHAC's role at the centre of the federal pandemic response. The health, social and economic policies and well-being of Canada's population are deeply interconnected and there is tremendous complexity in mobilizing resources and responding to a global public health crisis affecting all regions of Canada. PHAC is continuing to support the Government of Canada in the implementation of public health measures to prevent the further spread of COVID-19 and combat misinformation and disinformation found online, including through social media, which continues to be a direct contributor to the growing global and domestic concerns over vaccine hesitancy. This enduring spread of false information creates a barrier to managing the COVID-19 pandemic and it may lead to increasing rates of vaccine-preventable diseases among Canadians.

Canada remains one of the healthiest countries in the world. Life expectancy at birth for Canadians is 79.9 years for men and 84 years for women, well above international benchmarks. However, not all people experience the same health status. Health inequalities persist and are intensifying further among some segments of the population. Certain populations such as northern, rural and remote communities, low-income families, children living in conditions of risk, Indigenous Peoples, unemployed or underemployed adults, and older adults continue to experience poorer health outcomes than the average Canadian.

Canada will continue to face some persistent public health challenges in the coming years. As the population lives longer, the rates of chronic diseases such as diabetes and dementia are continuing to increase. Mental illness and mental health issues such as depression, anxiety and Post-traumatic stress disorder continue to be of concern, with approximately 12 people dying by suicide every day in Canada. Substance-related harms and deaths are also significant and ongoing public health challenges further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Climate change also presents a range of risks to the health status of Canadians, including poor air quality and the increasing spread of vector-borne diseases, such as Lyme disease. PHAC is working to address these climate-related challenges at the population level.

Infectious diseases continue to be of concern as some vaccine-preventable diseases, such as measles, continue to increase globally. Concurrently, Canadians continue facing an increasing risk of antimicrobial resistance, which has been identified by the World Health Organization as one of the top 10 risks to global health. There is also a steadily continuing rise in sexually transmitted infections, such as gonorrhea, syphilis and chlamydia.

Timely and reliable data are essential to developing sound policies, ensuring effective programming that delivers results to Canadians, delivering accurate information to Canadians and supporting overall government priorities (e.g., Sex- and Gender-based analysis plus, Sustainable Development Goals). In response to the pandemic, PHAC has evolved, which includes the creation of new Branches. This organizational realignment is contributing to Renewal efforts to ensure that the Agency has the necessary tools, resources and authorities to meet current and future needs.

PHAC continues to build capacity to ensure it can prepare for and respond to new public health events and emergencies that may arise, and this requires partners across all levels of government to respond to public health events and emergencies and maintain potentially long-term response efforts.

Public health is a shared responsibility in Canada, requiring coordination between the federal, provincial, territorial and municipal governments. By improving our understanding of the priorities, activities and concerns of partners and stakeholders, PHAC will be better able to adapt its programs, including those supported through grants and contributions, to respond to the diverse public health needs across Canada. PHAC's commitment to accountability, openness and results will help promote important multi-sectoral collaborations and the solutions needed to help improve the health of Canadians.