Public Health Agency of Canada’s 2025-26 Departmental Plan

Également disponible en français sous le titre :
Plan ministériel 2025-2026 de l'Agence de la santé publique du Canada

To obtain additional information, please contact:
Public Health Agency of Canada
130 Colonnade Rd
Address Locator 6501H
Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9
Toll free: 1-844-280-5020
Fax: 613-941-5366
TTY: 1-800-465-7735
E-mail: hc.publications-publications.sc@canada.ca

^©His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Health, 2025

Publication date: June 2025
This publication may be reproduced for personal or internal use only without permission provided the source is fully acknowledged.
Cat.: HP2-26E-PDF
ISSN: 2371-8064
Pub.: 240582

• Description
• Quality of life impacts
• Indicators, results and targets
• Plans to achieve results
• Planned resources to achieve results
• Related government priorities
• Program inventory

Results we plan to achieve

Fostering positive early development and stronger beginnings for Canadians

Healthy living needs to become a way of life for more Canadians from childhood, through adolescence and into adulthood. In recent years, Canada surpassed its target of more than 80% of children living in low-income households in very good or excellent health, but Canadians can benefit from further progress. To support the development and lifelong adoption of healthy behaviours, PHAC will invest in programs that promote health behaviours and improve overall health and well-being for pregnant women and people, children, and their families, specifically:

• the Community Action Program for Children, which promotes good health and well-being of children from birth to six years of age and their families who face challenges that may put their health at risk, with more than $51 million in 2025-26;
• the Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program, which supports the health and well-being of pregnant women and people and their infants who face challenges that may put their health at risk, with more than $27 million in 2025-26;
• the Healthy Early Years program, which supports the healthy development of children living in official language minority communities, with nearly $1.9 million in 2025-26; and
• the School Health Grant for Youth program, which provides grant funding for youth in a school setting to develop and lead their own initiatives that promote healthy living in their schools.

To support positive health behaviours from preconception through childhood, PHAC will develop and share information, tools, and guidance for parents, caregivers, and public health partners, recognizing that Indigenous Peoples have distinctive needs during pregnancy and birth. Examples of existing resources that are available include:

• Your Guide to Postpartum Health and Caring for Your Baby;
• Canada's Breastfeeding Dashboard; and
• Family-Centred Maternity and Newborn Care: National Guidelines.

Investing in Indigenous early learning and childcare

With over $32 million in funding to be provided to the Aboriginal Head Start in Urban and Northern Communities (AHSUNC) Program in 2025-26, PHAC is prioritizing an Indigenous-led approach by leveraging important investments in Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care (IELCC). With strategic investments and a commitment to priorities set in partnership with the National Aboriginal Head Start Association of Canada (NAHSAC), the AHSUNC Program strives to provide high-quality, culturally responsive, early learning programming for Indigenous children living off-reserve in urban and northern communities.

Currently annually impacting up to 4,300 young Indigenous children and their families nationwide, the AHSUNC program will support upstream health promotion and positive educational outcomes through its six core program components. These components cover a comprehensive spectrum, encompassing Indigenous culture and language, education and school readiness, health promotion, nutrition, social support, and parental involvement.

PHAC will remain dedicated to its collaborative efforts with Indigenous rights-holders and partners, including the NAHSAC and regional bodies, to further the implementation of the IELCC Framework. PHAC will strengthen and advance the AHSUNC Program by using a multifaceted approach, which will include proactive governance initiatives, capacity-building endeavors, and comprehensive program enhancements. These enhancements will encompass repairs, renovations, and major infrastructure investments aimed at improving site conditions to promote the safety of children and families attending programming. In addition, PHAC will work with Indigenous-led regional AHSUNC governance bodies to identify community-based targets for enrollment and explore strategic expansion of existing sites, as well as the creation of new sites over the next 2-4 years.

Supporting the mental health of Canadians

Recognizing the vital connection between mental health and overall well-being, the Agency prioritizes the mental health of Canadians. In 2022, data from the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) suggested that only 55% of Canadian adults had high self-rated mental health, which is significantly lower compared to previous years. In addition, findings from the 2023 Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth (CHSCY) suggested that the percentage of youth aged 12 to 17 years who rated their mental health as "fair" or "poor" in 2019 more than doubled in 2023, as they grew older to 16 to 21 years. To address this issue, PHAC will collaborate closely with key mental health partners and stakeholders such as other federal, provincial and territorial counterparts, the Mental Health Commission of Canada, and other mental health organizations to improve the mental health of Canadians.

In 2025-26, with over $6 million in funding through the Mental Health Promotion Innovation Fund, PHAC will continue to support 15 innovative, community-based intervention projects operating in over 200 communities to promote protective factors and encourage positive mental health for children, youth, young adults, their caregivers, and communities, as well as address the underlying determinants of mental health and health equity in these priority populations. Participants will be engaged from a variety of communities, including First Nations, Inuit, Métis, newcomers, refugees and immigrants, and 2SLGBTQIA+ groups.

An example of such project is the Agenda Gap, which will continue to engage youth aged between 15 and 25 years from equity-denied populations in a series of Collaborative Policymaking Workshops to enhance their skills in mental health promotion and advocacy. By empowering young leaders to identify community factors affecting mental health and developing actionable strategies, the initiative aims to advance health equity and foster collective action across British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, and Nova Scotia.

As part of the Innovation Fund's work with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis, Indigenous-led community-based organizations will continue to be supported to address systemic and structural barriers. For example, as mental health and wellness supports for children and families living in Nunavut can be disjointed and difficult to access, the "Inuusirvik Community Wellness Hub" Indigenous led project aims to coordinate existing programs into an integrated community-led mental health and wellness service delivery model that uses and shares knowledge about holistic Inuit worldview and value system to promote and improve the mental health of this population. In addition, PHAC will also continue to fund a Knowledge Development and Exchange (KDE) Hub that will support all funded projects in sharing lessons learned, connecting with various stakeholders and applying new knowledge to a broader policy and system change agenda.

Healthy emotional and social development in our early years lays the foundation for mental health and resilience throughout the lifespan. Recognizing the mental health challenges faced by youth, Budget 2024 provided PHAC with $7.5 million over three years to support the Kids Help Phone in providing mental health, counselling, and crisis support to young people. In 2025-26, Kids Help Phone will continue to be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to provide mental health support for kids, including reaching youth from communities that are disproportionately impacted by structural inequities, such as Indigenous youth, racialized minorities, 2SLGBTQIA+ youth, and newcomers to Canada.

PHAC recognizes that Black Canadians face significant social and economic challenges such as experiences of interpersonal and institutional anti-Black racism and discrimination, systemic socioeconomic, and other disadvantages that can negatively impact mental health. For example, in 2017, only 64% of young Black women reported "excellent or very good" mental health, in comparison to 77% for young White women. Therefore, with an investment of $4 million over two years announced in Budget 2024, the Promoting Health Equity: Mental Health of Black Canadians (MHBC) Fund will support community-based, culturally focused, Black-led projects that aim to increase health equity and address the underlying determinants of mental health, including anti-Black racism. The program will engage with the Mental Health of Black Canadians Working Group to seek guidance and expertise on program planning and delivery. The MHBC Fund will also lead knowledge mobilization activities to share program learnings with internal and external stakeholders to improve mental health for Black communities.

In addition, PHAC began data collection for the Parental Experiences Survey in the fall of 2024. This initiative will provide valuable data on Canadians' mental health during the perinatal period, access to mental health services, and other key perinatal and parental issues. Social and structural factors captured in this survey will include age, Indigenous identity, race, education level, household income, experience of abuse or violence, family setting, and sex of the couple when applicable.

PHAC programs and policies that aim to improve the mental health of Canadians rely on a variety of research and surveillance sources to inform all aspects of design and implementation. Emerging research and surveillance will direct investments towards the populations more likely to benefit from interventions. As such, the Agency will leverage evidence related to mental health issues (e.g., family violence, stress and burnout, mental health impacts of post COVID-19 condition) to inform decision-making, as well as the research efforts underway related to public health surveillance and modelling. Other efforts will include continuing collaboration and analyzing existing data to support post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and trauma.

Strengthening suicide prevention measures

Suicide is a pressing public health concern due to its far-reaching impact on individuals, families, and communities. Every day, there are Canadians who struggle with their mental health and some that have thoughts of suicide. Every year, approximately 4,500 Canadians die by suicide. Recognizing and addressing the risk factors for suicide, including mental health issues, allows for better-informed suicide prevention strategies. In Canada, men and boys, people serving federal sentences, survivors of suicide loss and survivors of suicide attempts, as well as some First Nations, Inuit, and Métis, and people living in Inuit Nunangat in Canada have higher rates of risk for suicide. In 2025-26, PHAC will lead national public health surveillance for mental health, including positive mental health, mental illness, suicide, self-harm, family violence, and related risk and protective factors. The Agency will work closely with provincial and territorial public health authorities, Chief Coroners, Chief Medical Examiners and federal government partners to improve completeness and timeliness of data, streamline data sharing with partners, and better understand data gaps and needs.

In addition, PHAC will work with partners to advance the implementation of the National Suicide Prevention Action Plan to strengthen Canada's collective response to suicide. As of November 30, 2023, all Canadians can call or text 9-8-8 to reach free suicide prevention crisis support in English and French from trained responders 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Access to 9-8-8 services in other languages may also be available by phone via an interpreter for non-English or non-French speaking Canadians. In 2025-26, PHAC will continue to collaborate with key partners to support effective 9-8-8 operations and expand awareness of the 9-8-8: Suicide Crisis Helpline, to ensure Canadians who need help have access to trauma-informed and culturally competent suicide crisis support. 9-8-8 is being delivered by a network of close to 40 local, regional, provincial, and national distress lines, and coordinated by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). PHAC will advance analysis and advice towards establishing a long-term funding mechanism for the 9-8-8: Suicide Crisis Helpline for beyond 2025-26.

In some parts of the country, callers can choose to be connected to the Hope for Wellness Helpline, a national service that is supported by Indigenous Services Canada and available to all First Nations, Inuit, and Métis across the country, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Hope for Wellness offers support in English and in French, as well as Cree, Ojibwe (Anishinaabemowin), and Inuktitut upon request. In 2025-26, PHAC and CAMH will work with Indigenous partners to strengthen culturally appropriate support across the 9-8-8 network.

Supporting those affected by dementia and advancing prevention efforts

Dementia has a significant and growing impact in Canada. In the last two decades, the number of Canadians living with dementia more than doubled and, as the Canadian population ages, this number is expected to continue to increase. PHAC will advance the implementation of Canada's national dementia strategy, A Dementia Strategy for Canada: Together We Aspire, released by the Minister of Health in 2019, which aims to prevent dementia, advance therapies and find a cure, as well as improve the quality of life for people living with dementia and caregivers. The Strategy places a focus on populations likely to be at higher risk of developing dementia and/or facing barriers to care, including Indigenous Peoples. Implementation of the Strategy is informed by extensive engagement with key stakeholders including the Ministerial Advisory Board on Dementia and the Federal, Provincial, and Territorial Coordinating Committee on Dementia that provides a forum for collaboration, information sharing, and discussion of programs, policies, and issues related to dementia.

With more than $10 million over the next three years through the Dementia Community Investment, PHAC will support community-based projects that seek to optimize the health and well-being of people living with dementia, family/friends, caregivers, as well as increase knowledge of dementia and its risk and protective factors. Funded projects provide tailored resources, knowledge, and skills to enhance support for people living with dementia and caregivers. PHAC will also perform routine dementia surveillance by using the Canadian Chronic Disease Surveillance System (CCDSS) to increase available data on Canadians diagnosed with this condition. In addition, the Agency provided funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) for two dementia-related projects that will be active through March 2026. The first is centered around updating the WHO's 2019 guidelines on risk reduction of cognitive decline and dementia. The second is for the Global Dementia Observatory, which helps track progress on the implementation of key elements of the WHO Global Action Plan on the Public Health Response to Dementia.

Supporting individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), their families and caregivers

Autism (also known as autism spectrum disorder or ASD) is a lifelong neurodevelopment condition. People with autism may communicate and connect with people differently, have sensory processing differences, or focus intensely on certain interests or activities. The Framework for Autism in Canada, tabled in Parliament in September 2024, outlines principles and best practices to guide national autism policy, programs and activities in Canada. Additionally, Canada's Autism Strategy supports federal implementation of the Framework by outlining federal-specific short- and medium-term initiatives and builds on existing programs and measures to address key priority areas. The implementation of the Framework and Strategy requires coordinated efforts across governments in Canada, as well as many partners, organizations, and individuals whose work touches on autism-related initiatives.

In 2025-26, PHAC will support the development of a new National Autism Network, which will unite the expertise and resources of autism organizations and stakeholders, including people with lived and living experience, to coordinate efforts to address key autism priorities identified in the Framework. The Network will also provide a permanent mechanism for PHAC to engage Canadians with autism, their families, and caregivers on an ongoing basis. The Network will also support ongoing engagement with First Nations, Metis, and Inuit Peoples, recognizing the need to identify and co-develop Indigenous-specific autism priorities that are culturally sensitive and respect the principles of Reconciliation.

PHAC will also conduct ongoing autism public health surveillance efforts, which will support the implementation of the Framework and Strategy by providing evidence to support the development of policies and programs aimed to improve health outcomes for Canadians with autism. The Agency will work closely with federal, provincial, and territorial partners to provide reliable estimates on the number of Canadians with autism and its impact. PHAC will report on existing data sources, including national surveys such as the 2023 Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth (CHSCY), and seek opportunities to enhance disaggregated data collection. Where possible, analysis and reporting will be carried out for all provinces and territories and across age ranges (children, youth, and adults) and will include indicators beyond prevalence such as co-occurring conditions as well as diagnosis and healthcare service utilization. Data will be disaggregated by demographics (e.g., age, sex, and geography), diversity (e.g., gender and ethnicity) and equity considerations (e.g., income and education). Examining these factors will help provide a more comprehensive understanding of the challenges and needs of this population.

Preventing and addressing family violence

Family violence, including child maltreatment, youth dating violence, intimate partner violence, and mistreatment of older adults, is strongly linked to negative physical and mental health outcomes. Preventing and addressing these issues is important for PHAC. In 2025-26, the Agency will support programming to prevent family violence and its health outcomes by funding organizations with nearly $20 million in funding to deliver, test, and build the evidence base on effective health promotion interventions. Some interventions work with participants directly to build skills for safe relationships or foster resilience and healing, whereas others equip health and social service professionals to respond safely and effectively to family violence.

As a result of programming, PHAC expects participants from the community, including children, youth, parents, and future parents, will acquire skills for lifelong healthy relationships, and will experience improved well-being. PHAC also expects that professionals and service providers will acquire knowledge and skills that will equip them to recognize violence and provide trauma- and violence-informed care and support, leading to better health outcomes and fewer negative impacts for people impacted by family violence. In both cases, the interventions are expected to have long-term impacts as intergenerational cycles of family violence are interrupted and their health impacts are addressed. Funding recipients will promote the uptake of evidence-informed interventions across the country by participating in communities of practice, producing a range of knowledge products, and hosting events on family violence prevention to share lessons learned.

The Agency is investing $5 million over 5 years to support Indigenous focused projects aimed at preventing child maltreatment and youth dating violence. These projects will help over 1,270 Indigenous children, youth, and families, as well as service providers, across Canada by providing them with the tools to build safe, supportive relationships. One such project is the Legacy of Hope Foundation, which aims to empower Indigenous youth to learn how to identify unhealthy behaviours and how to cultivate healthy relationship dynamics through the creation and dissemination of tools and resources, and delivery of online workshops.

PHAC will also collect disaggregated data on children placed in out-of-home care by using the Canadian Child Welfare Information System (CCWIS) which will inform policies and programs aimed at improving child and family health in Canada. Data collected on socio-demographic and socio-economic factors will include the age, sex, province, and placement type of children placed in out-of-home care. The first CCWIS report on children in out-of-home care was published in February 2024 and was widely disseminated across governments, service agencies, and Indigenous organizations to inform decision-making, policy development, and programming. This year's CCWIS report will aim to improve the quality and coverage of information by collaborating more closely with those who use the data and to better integrate data from province, territories, and Indigenous Services Canada.

Results we plan to achieve

Promoting physical activity for all Canadians

Being physically active is essential to good overall health, including both physical and mental health. That said, in 2018-19, the data reported in the Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) suggested that neither adults nor children and youth met their moderate to vigorous physical activity targets of 150 minutes per week and 60 minutes per day, respectively, to obtain optimum health benefits. PHAC is committed to improving the physical activity levels of Canadians and considers behavioural, social, psychological, economic, and cultural barriers that may interact and contribute to physical inactivity and sedentary living. To further help Canadians achieve their optimal health, PHAC will fund projects that support active living, healthy aging, and healthy built environments.

To support evidence-informed decision-making, PHAC will monitor 24-hour movement behaviours and their risk and protective factors through the Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour and Sleep (PASS) Indicators surveillance tool and behavioural science surveys and research.

In 2025-26, PHAC will promote public health messaging on the benefits of physical activity for all age groups, including the early years (0-4 years), children and youth (5-17 years), adults (18-64 years) and older adults (65 years and older). The Agency will act as a leader in coordinating the Government of Canada's efforts to support the United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021-2030) by raising awareness of the importance of physical activity, increasing physical activity levels, building capacity, and encouraging action on healthy ageing.

Improving understanding and reducing social and health harms of substance use

Substance-related harms have significant adverse health, social, and economic impacts in Canada, ranging from the immediate risks of toxicity drug poisoning and injuries to the long-term consequences of substance use. In 2025-26, PHAC will lead work on the prevention of substance-related harms through multiple initiatives. To prevent substance-related harms among youth, the Agency will support schools and communities in implementing best practices, with a focus on enhancing resilience, addressing root causes, reducing stigma, and promoting equity.

In addition, a new Youth Substance Use Prevention Program (YSUPP) will fund community programs with $10.5 million in funding over the next three years to build protective factors that promote overall health and well-being and prevent substance use harms among youth. YSUPP is based on the Icelandic Prevention Model (IPM), which is recognized internationally for its collaborative and evidence-informed approach to preventing substance use harms. The IPM takes a program approach that considers the broader social surroundings affecting youth such as the home, school, and peer environments, rather than focusing on changing individual behaviour. Community involvement in all stages of the IPM approach is necessary in order to ensure the success of prevention strategies. As part of the YSUPP's work with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis, some Indigenous-led, community-based organizations have received funding to implement and adapt the IPM in the Canadian context. PHAC will work with these Indigenous funding recipients to learn how the IPM needs to be adapted to best serve their populations and meet community and cultural needs, along with identifying and addressing any systematic and structural barriers to implementation.

On a wider scale, the Agency will also support all Canadians in making informed decisions about their substance use by providing evidence-informed public education messaging. PHAC will lead the development and dissemination of resources on the risks and harms of polysubstance use among sexual- and gender-minority young-adult populations in Canada. These efforts will be supported by applying a public health lens, addressing substance-related harms with the promotion of approaches informed by equity, diversity, and trauma, as well as work with partners for more timely, comprehensive, and disaggregated data on substance related harms to enable evidence-informed decision-making. For example, PHAC will work towards getting additional factors added within the Canadian Coroner and Medical Examiner Database such as race and Indigenous identity.

By providing $7 million in funding annually over the next three years through the Harm Reduction Fund (HRF), PHAC will also complement provincial and territorial harm reduction strategies and support time-limited projects across Canada to help reduce HIV and hepatitis C (HCV) among people who share injection and inhalation drug-use equipment. PHAC is committed to strengthening and enhancing its surveillance and research methods to better guide evidence-informed strategies and interventions related to substance use. The Agency will work closely with provincial and territorial public health authorities, Chief Coroners, Chief Medical Examiners, and federal government partners to collect and publish data each quarter on substance-related harms and conduct research to better understand the context of fatal and non-fatal toxicity events. PHAC will also publish updated modelling of opioid-related deaths to inform public health measures and government action at all levels in their prevention and response efforts.

Results we plan to achieve

Helping Canadians prevent diabetes

Diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases affecting Canadians. In 2022-23, new diabetes cases (types combined, excluding gestational diabetes) per 1,000 Canadians aged 1 year or older was still above the Agency's established target. In 2025-26, in partnership with provinces and territories, PHAC will monitor diabetes rates and associated outcomes through the Canadian Chronic Disease Surveillance System. This work will support the surveillance and data collection component of the Framework for Diabetes in Canada and will include exploring methods to better estimate prevalence of diabetes by type and exploring the patterns of occurrence of complications and comorbidities of the disease.

In 2025-26, PHAC will also engage with a variety of stakeholders to facilitate action on addressing diabetes in line with the Framework, including supporting projects with Diabetes Canada, the National Indigenous Diabetes Association, and Diabetes Québec. For example:

• Diabetes Canada will develop an inventory of successful diabetes programs, interventions and projects that aim to support the spread and adoption, and adaptation of initiatives across Canada;
• the National Indigenous Diabetes Association will lead its nation-wide, distinctions-based engagement with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis organizations, communities, and people to address the challenges and needs related to diabetes among Indigenous Peoples; and
• Diabetes Québec will develop a diabetes awareness and education program for individuals of North African descent living in Québec as part of their efforts to focus on populations that face health inequities and experience higher rates of diabetes.

In addition, PHAC will collaborate with various stakeholders to complete the validation of the Canadian Diabetes Risk Questionnaire (CANRISK). In Ontario and Quebec, partners have been promoting the CANRISK validation study through various channels such as posters and outreach initiatives, and participants have been completing the self-administered questionnaire online. Further testing is being conducted at Regional Public Health Directorate facilities and in Community Health Centres. In 2025-26, the results of this study will be analyzed and once the questionnaire has been validated, it will be used as a health promotion and diabetes prevention tool for young Canadians aged 18-39 and its scope will be expanded to hard-to-reach populations.

In 2025-26, PHAC will select two grand prize winners for the Type 2 Diabetes Prevention Challenge, led by Impact Canada, who will present the results of their projects aimed at addressing the social, economic, and geographical determinants of health and social barriers that increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. The winners will receive a $1.25 million prize each to continue their work and expand their successful approach to type 2 diabetes prevention in other diverse communities or contexts in Canada.

Encouraging healthy living behaviours that prevent chronic diseases

Making healthy food choices, staying physically active, and maintaining a healthy weight are essential to good health and are a key area of focus for PHAC. For two decades, PHAC has promoted healthy living among Canadians who face health inequalities and inequities and are at greater risk of developing the main chronic diseases of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. The Agency works with federal, provincial, and territorial governments to implement the Integrated Pan-Canadian Healthy Living Strategy. This will include providing more than $21 million in funding annually for the next three years to support the Healthy Canadians and Communities Fund (HCCF), which, since 2021, has funded interventions that address behavioural risk factors for chronic diseases, including physical inactivity, unhealthy eating, and tobacco use. The program also aims to create physical and social environments that are known to support better health for Canadians. For example, the HCCF funds community-based initiatives to help create food environments that enable access and remove barriers to healthy foods, and improve healthy eating. Key priorities of the HCCF include:

• investing in interventions that reduce health inequalities and inequities;
• encouraging multi-sectoral participation in chronic disease prevention; and
• discovering new ways to address chronic disease risk factors.

As part of the HCCF, PHAC will support Canada's Tobacco Strategy which aims to help Canadians who smoke to quit or reduce the harms of their addiction to nicotine, as well as protect youth and people who do not use tobacco from the dangers of tobacco use and nicotine addiction, including through vaping products, with a target of reducing rates of tobacco use to less than 5% by 2035. The HCCF will support community-based tobacco use prevention and cessation projects that target groups with higher smoking rates, including Indigenous Peoples, 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, and individuals living on low incomes. An example of a prevention project is the "Tobacco Dependence Management for Marginalized Populations: A Whole Person Comprehensive Approach", led by the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. This multi-year project supports smoking reduction and cessation among equity-denied populations through a holistic approach that combines counselling, nicotine replacement therapy, and peer support in community settings. By supporting tobacco use prevention and cessation projects, PHAC aims to help Canadian participants quit smoking and improve long-term health outcomes.

In 2025-26, the HCCF will support 33 projects in their implementation-phase of funding. Analyzing the information collected from these projects will help PHAC better understand "what works", "for whom" and "in what setting" for chronic disease prevention and how to apply these lessons learned across the country. In addition, PHAC will monitor chronic disease risk factors by using established tools, such as the Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour and Sleep (PASS) Indicators and the Canadian Risk Factor Atlas (CRFA). These tools will provide detailed socio-demographic breakdowns (e.g., employment, education, income, geographical location) for key chronic disease risk factors.

The Agency will disaggregate public health surveillance data by socio-demographic and socio-economic factors when available, to conduct detailed analyses on the impact of mental health, substance-related harms, and healthy living on diverse population groups. PHAC's surveillance indicator frameworks and tools, including the Positive Mental Health Indicator Framework, the Suicide Surveillance Indicator Framework, the Child Maltreatment Indicator Framework, and the CRFA strengthen the ability to examine the impacts of health inequalities on population groups to support policies and programming in responding to the needs of equity-denied groups. In 2025-26, PHAC will collaborate with federal partners to publish targeted studies and add to the body of evidence on area- and individual-level characteristics amongst individuals who died from substance-related harms and substance combinations contributing to death through the Overdose Crisis Data Program (OCDP). As a joint venture by PHAC, Health Canada, and Statistics Canada, the OCDP is a virtual secure environment for which data integration processes combine two or more datasets for social and intersectional analysis.

PHAC will apply SGBA Plus in public health programming to ensure equitable and inclusive outcomes for Canadians.

• The HCCF will work closely with funded projects to improve their ability to collect and use data disaggregated by socio-demographic and socio-economic factors to support SGBA Plus. In 2025-26, the HCCF will continue to share best practices and tools from previous research and through peer networking opportunities to help address challenges encountered in SGBA Plus application. Improved disaggregated data collection will enhance the understanding of how diverse population groups are impacted and benefit from improved health outcomes through HCCF-funded projects.
• The Community Action Program for Children, Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program and Healthy Early Years Program, will facilitate programs designed to provide stigma-free, culturally-safe and inclusive environments that promote positive health behaviours and outcomes for all people, including Indigenous Peoples, new immigrants, racialized people, 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, and people with disabilities.
• The Mental Health of Black Canadians Fund will support funding recipients in developing and reporting on robust performance measures, evaluation plans and the integration of SGBA Plus into their projects. All projects that will be funded through the Mental Health of Black Canadians Fund will need to describe how health equity is considered as part of the project design, recruitment, and implementation stages and projects will also be required to report on achieving health equity.
• The Preventing Family Violence program will fund projects aimed at promoting lifelong healthy family and intimate relationships. Funding recipients will be encouraged to collect and report disaggregated data where it is relevant, safe, and feasible, to support equity-informed analyses.

PHAC promotes health and well-being by supporting projects, programming and surveillance activities which address healthy behaviours and promote the well-being of all people living in Canada at all ages. This is in alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (UN SDG) 3: Good Health and Well-Being. PHAC's public health surveillance identifies populations most affected and undertakes disaggregated data collection and analysis to monitor physical and mental health, including positive mental health, mental illness, suicide and self-harm, family violence, and related risk and protective factors. This data is used to inform and support PHAC programs like the Preventing Family Violence program, the Mental Health Promotion Innovation Fund, and the 9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline.

In addition, these activities also support the advancement of UN SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities and UN SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities through the implementation of targeted community-based programming such as the Mental Health of Black Canadians Fund and the Age-Friendly Communities model.

More information on PHAC's contributions to Canada's Federal Implementation Plan on the 2030 Agenda and the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy can be found in our Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy.

• Description
• Quality of life impacts
• Indicators, results and targets
• Plans to achieve results
• Planned resources to achieve results
• Related government priorities
• Program inventory

Results we plan to achieve

Protecting Canadians from infectious diseases by increasing vaccination rates

Vaccines are a cornerstone of public health and their use has significantly contributed to the prevention and control of infectious diseases in Canada and internationally. Vaccines are considered an upstream public health intervention saving nearly three times as much in health care costs for every dollar spent. In Canada, vaccination programming is a shared responsibility between federal, provincial and territorial governments, with provincial and territorial governments and local public health authorities undertaking the planning and delivery of vaccination programming.

As a whole, Canada is not meeting the target set in the National Immunization Strategy (NIS) for the percentage of two-year-old children who have received all recommended vaccinations. To address gaps in vaccine coverage rates, PHAC will promote childhood vaccination to parents and guardians of children 0-5 years and those planning a pregnancy through increased advertising and marketing efforts. In addition, to help improve and maintain public confidence in vaccination, the Agency will bolster community-centered vaccination education efforts and develop guidance for health care providers, knowledge translation materials, and communications products to inform immunization practices as well as Canadians of the benefits of vaccination.

PHAC will also lead outreach activities to improve vaccine confidence and reduce barriers to vaccination. PHAC will monitor vaccine coverage as well as factors influencing uptake of vaccines by conducting behavioural science research and by analyzing survey data and scientific literature to identify key drivers of vaccination, including access, knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs. These findings will enable the identification of opportunities to address vaccine hesitancy and enhance vaccine uptake and will be communicated to interjurisdictional partners and stakeholders to inform vaccine uptake efforts.

In 2025-26, PHAC will continue efforts to increase equitable and timely access to vaccines which will include supporting the operations of the new Moderna mRNA vaccine facility in Québec. PHAC will monitor vaccine coverage for vaccine preventable diseases in Canada and apply findings from academic literature and surveys to identify and implement evidence-informed strategies to improve uptake of vaccines and better understand factors that influence their uptake. PHAC will also leverage social and behavioural sciences to understand and address key drivers and barriers to vaccine uptake in the general population and in at-risk populations.

PHAC will also work with federal, provincial, and territorial partners, subject matter experts, Indigenous rights-holders and partners, and other stakeholders on renewing the NIS for 2025-2030 to advance a healthier Canada by increasing vaccination coverage and reducing target gaps for priority vaccine preventable diseases. In 2025-26, provinces and territories will be engaged through the Pan-Canadian Public Health Network (PHN) to approve the renewed goals and objectives. PHAC will also collaborate with provinces and territories on a proof-of-concept for connecting vaccination registries by drawing from existing work on standards, interoperability, and health data stewardship to increase access to quality immunization data.

In 2025-26, the Agency will continue to support provincial and territorial decision-making on vaccination policies and programs by publishing expert guidance from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) on diseases such as Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), mpox, Pneumococcal, Influenza, and COVID-19 vaccines for health care providers and vaccination program decision makers. As part of this work, emphasis will be placed on bridging Indigenous perspectives in national vaccine guidance through engagement with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis rights holders and partners.

Since 2016, the Immunization Partnership Fund (IPF) has supported community-driven initiatives that help to close the gap among populations with lower vaccine uptake. IPF projects increase equity by supporting racialized and Indigenous populations, children and families, newcomers and refugees, individuals with complex health needs, equity-denied populations, minority language communities, youth, and young and older adults. In 2025-26, with the remaining $5 million of the $20 million that the federal government invested in the IPF for 2023 to 2026, PHAC will support projects to develop and implement community-centered, culturally safe, evidence-informed, and equity-promoting initiatives. These initiatives will promote awareness of the importance of vaccination across an individual's life course, build vaccine literacy, strengthen vaccine confidence and uptake, and reduce barriers to vaccination, particularly among populations experiencing or facing systematic and structural inequities.

Additionally, since the program started accepting claims in 2021, PHAC's Vaccine Injury Support Program received over 3,000 claims and more than $16 million dollars has been paid out to claimants who were seriously and permanently injured after receiving a Health Canada-authorized vaccine on or after December 8, 2020. PHAC will invest $2 million under its Immunization Surveillance Program to bolster Canadian scientific capacity and preparedness to enhance the evidence base on vaccination coverage, safety, and effectiveness.

Reducing the health impacts of Sexually Transmitted and Blood-borne Infections

Sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBI) include human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B (HBV) and HCV, chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, human papilloma virus (HPV), and herpes simplex virus (HSV1 and HSV 2). Although some STBBI are curable or manageable and their transmission can be prevented, rates of certain STBBI continue to rise in Canada. In 2023, the rate for newly diagnosed cases of HIV was 6.2 per 100,000 population. Increases since 2020 are linked to a growing proportion of new HIV infections among people who inject drugs and who also experience intersecting social determinants of health such as substance use and homelessness.

PHAC is working to meet the WHO's global STBBI targets to reduce the health impact of STBBI by 2030. As such, the Agency is leading the implementation of the Pan-Canadian STBBI Framework for Action and its corresponding STBBI Action Plan. The Framework sets out an overarching and comprehensive cross-Canadian approach to reduce the incidence of STBBIs by engaging with individuals affected by them to develop and implement policies and programs while respecting cultural practices. The implementation of the Action Plan will reduce the incidence of STBBI, address factors leading to a disproportionate vulnerability to and consequences of STBBI in certain priority groups, improve access to testing, treatment, ongoing care and support, and improve the cultural safety and stigma-free nature of STBBI services.

PHAC's funding of projects through the HIV and Hepatitis C Community Action Fund (CAF) and the Harm Reduction Fund (HRF) provide culturally safe and stigma free sexually transmitted infections (STI) prevention, testing, treatment, and care services. In 2025-26 and beyond, community projects supported by PHAC under the CAF and the HRF will take into consideration the intersecting identities of key populations, to ensure tailored approaches are adopted for greater impact. This includes improving the capacity of community-based Indigenous rights holders, diverse partners, and other stakeholders to prevent and control STBBI in Canada. It will be addressed through funded projects which will increase the knowledge and uptake of effective evidence-informed prevention measures for HIV, HCV, or other STI, as well as strengthen the capacity to prevent infections and improve health outcomes related to STBBI. PHAC will leverage lessons-learned during the COVID-19 pandemic regarding the adoption of rapid diagnostic testing and advances in diagnostic tools to establish more efficient STBBI testing so that Canadians will have quicker test results.

PHAC will also review methods and processes related to STBBI surveillance systems, including the national HIV surveillance program and the Canadian Notifiable Disease Surveillance System (CNDSS), to improve data quality and timeliness, and further support measurement and track progress towards STBBI elimination goals. The CNDSS is used by the Agency to monitor trends in nationally notifiable diseases, infectious diseases that have been identified collectively by the federal, provincial and territorial governments as priorities for monitoring and control. The improvements to the system will enhance how data is shared online for Canadians to access, enabling awareness, research, and analysis across the country.

In addition, PHAC will continue to share information with the public and engage a wide range of relevant stakeholders and the public through statements, news releases, an advertising campaign, informational resources, social media messages, and website content to share information on the prevention and treatments of STBBI with Canadians. For example, PHAC's ongoing Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U) campaign has increased awareness that HIV cannot be passed through sex when a person living with HIV is on treatment and the amount of HIV in their blood remains very low. Knowing about U=U prevents new HIV infections, reduces stigma and discrimination, helps people get tested and treated properly, improves the quality of life of people living with HIV, and, ultimately, support the global goal of ending HIV and AIDS as a public health concern by 2030.

Reducing the emergence and spread of Antimicrobial Resistance

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites no longer respond to antimicrobial medicines used to treat infectious diseases in humans, animals, and plants. AMR poses one of the greatest threats to public health in Canada and globally. PHAC is striving to meet its target for the rate of key antimicrobial resistant infections identified among hospital admissions, as established by the WHO and the Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System Requirements. The expansion of PHAC's surveillance system significantly enhanced the representativeness of hospital-based surveillance data. By increasing the number and diversity of participating facilities, it now captures a broader cross-section of the population, including previously underrepresented regions. As a result, this expansion enables the Agency to provide a more comprehensive and robust indicator of national and regional rates of AMR.

Recognizing the interplay between humans, animals, plants, crops, and their shared environment, PHAC takes a One Health approach to limit the emergence and spread of AMR. For many years, PHAC has been working with federal, provincial, and territorial partners to apply a One Health approach to AMR. Since 2023, PHAC has been implementing the five-year (2023-2027) Pan-Canadian Action Plan on AMR (PCAP). The PCAP is a multi-jurisdictional and multi-sectoral plan to collectively combat AMR. It is a shared commitment between federal, provincial, and territorial Ministers of Health and Agriculture that builds on the Pan-Canadian Framework for Action with ten priority actions to advance progress of AMR across five pillars: research and innovation, surveillance, stewardship, infection prevention and control, and leadership. Important cross-cutting themes such as gender, priority populations, and sustainability are also considered.

One of the key initiatives included in PCAP is the development of a national One Health AMR research strategy to extend the reach and impact of AMR research in Canada. As such, PHAC will support the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in developing the strategy and set the foundation for improved coordination of research. Greater research coordination will help advance the Agency's understanding of how infections spread across One Health sectors. This will help to positively influence the behaviours of prescribers, producers, patients, and the public, bolstering AMR prevention, preparedness, and response.

To help strengthen public health AMR surveillance and action, PHAC is integrating innovative technologies such as whole genome sequencing and interactive data visualizations to better track and understand how AMR circulates among humans, animals, plants, crops, and the environment. The Agency will also work with its partners to develop a plan to enhance environmental surveillance for AMR to strengthen understanding of transmission across One Health sectors, including humans, animals, plants, crops, and their shared environment.

Through PHAC's Canadian Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (CARSS), supported by other surveillance programs including the Canadian Integrated Program for Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance (CIPARS), the laboratory-based AMR Network (AMRNet), and the Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program (CNISP), PHAC will continue to collect data and report on trends in AMR and antimicrobial use (AMU) to inform infection prevention and control policies and stewardship initiatives. The expansion of CNISP has significantly enhanced the representation of hospital-based surveillance data. By increasing the number and diversity of participating facilities, the Agency can now collect data from a broader cross-section of the population, including previously underrepresented regions. As a result, PHAC will be able to offer a more accurate picture of national and regional rates of AMR.

In 2025-26, PHAC will address prudent and responsible antimicrobial prescriptions and use to help mitigate AMR in humans. As part of this work, PHAC will work with the Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease Canada and Firstline to develop, finalize, and disseminate national antimicrobial prescribing guidelines to healthcare providers at the point-of-care through the Firstline digital health platform. PHAC will also implement a pilot project to secure access to new antimicrobial drugs for humans to address priority public health needs for Canadians. The pilot will run until the end of March 2027, at which time a final report detailing results will be developed.

PHAC will also collaborate with international partners to define global implementation approaches to address AMR, in response to the priorities identified in the Political Declaration of the High-level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance adopted at the 2024 United Nations High-Level Meeting on AMR.

Modernizing public health data and increasing data availability

Access to timely, integrated and quality, disaggregated public health data is essential to PHAC's ability to detect, understand, and respond to public health events including infectious disease outbreaks. As part of its Science Strategy, the Agency aims to advance data science and the science of public health surveillance. Under the Working Together to Improve Health Care for Canadians Plan, federal, provincial, and territorial governments (excluding Québec ^{Footnote 3}) committed to improving how health data is collected, shared, used, and reported to manage public health events and improve health outcomes for Canadians. The associated Joint FPT Action Plan on Health Data and Digital Health provides a path forward for working together by improving data-sharing policies, enhancing interoperability, increasing public trust, and promoting effective data management and stewardship.

To support delivery of these joint commitments, PHAC will lead pan-Canadian efforts to modernize standardized approaches for public health data collection, sharing, and utilization with key partners. This will include developing best practices to achieve consensus on the use of disaggregated data standards within PHAC's surveillance systems as well as contributing to the development of pan-Canadian approaches to ensure public health priorities such as health equity are represented. In doing so, PHAC will apply the Pan-Canadian Health Data Charter, which sets out common principles and a unified vision for health data management in Canada and commits to supporting First Nations, Inuit, and Métis data sovereignty and Indigenous-led governance frameworks. By improving data sharing agreements to make data-sharing simpler and more timely, enhancing interoperability between systems, and promoting effective stewardship that strengthens the scientific foundation of public health, these efforts will improve Canada's readiness to anticipate and respond to public health threats and facilitate access to health information for practitioners and individuals. Key initiatives for 2025-26 will include:

• coordinating with federal, provincial, and territorial partners in co-developing a national data-sharing framework;
• addressing public policy challenges related to health security, privacy, scientific integrity, trust, and health equity;
• overseeing the development of a baseline for measuring public health system readiness in Canada;
• participating in a Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) process with provinces and territories to establish a comprehensive framework for health data stewardship and promote secondary use of health data; and
• supporting the implementation of the Shared Pan-Canadian Interoperability Roadmap by adopting standards that better connect Canada's public health system, improve access to timely, comprehensive and disaggregated data, and facilitate national coordinated public health interventions.

Furthermore, over the next three years, the Agency will work towards fulfilling its commitments under the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's recommendations, United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act Action Plan, the 2023-26 Federal Sustainable Development Strategy, and the 2023-26 Federal Data Strategy, by building relations with Indigenous Peoples and organizations, bringing Indigenous knowledge into Agency activities and frameworks, bridging and supporting awareness of Indigenous-led systems, and promoting Indigenous Data Sovereignty. PHAC will support efforts to provide First Nations, Inuit, and Métis with data capacity to enable effective delivery of services to Indigenous Peoples, tell their own stories, and realize their respective visions for self-determination.

Finally, PHAC will implement its Open Science Action Plan and Science Strategy and make public health research and data open by design and by default. For example, PHAC is making its reports and publications accessible through the Federal Open Science Repository of Canada, and publishes peer-reviewed scientific articles on areas of communicable and infectious diseases in its open-access journal: Canada Communicable Disease Report (CCDR). These efforts underscore the Agency's commitment to transparency and the dissemination of scientific knowledge.

Advancing work to mitigate the impacts of climate change, including climate-sensitive infectious diseases

Canada is experiencing more frequent and severe weather events, including floods, wildfires, and droughts, as well as other changes to the environment. These changes are leading to increasing health impacts including illness, injuries, and deaths. As temperatures increase and the amount of precipitation varies, vectors (i.e., living things that spread diseases) may grow in number, establish in new areas, as well as expand and shift in geographic range. As a result, Canadians are at a greater risk of being exposed to both new and established diseases that can affect their health and well-being.

PHAC's Infectious Disease and Climate Change Program aims to address the links between climate change, infectious diseases, and the impacts on human health and related strategies to prevent and adapt to threats. In 2025-26, PHAC will support monitoring and surveillance activities for climate-sensitive infectious diseases including modelling, laboratory work in vector-borne disease surveillance and diagnostics, risk assessments, and improvements to tools and surveillance systems to support early warning of emerging infectious diseases. This program also supports education and awareness activities to inform Canadians, and in particular health professionals and populations who are disproportionately impacted (e.g., children, caregivers, outdoor workers, people living in at-risk areas, and Indigenous populations), of the risks, prevention, and control methods of climate-sensitive infectious diseases.

The Infectious Disease and Climate Change Fund will invest $6 million in funding over the next three years in new projects for monitoring and surveillance of climate-sensitive infectious diseases and will raise awareness by sharing information and tools to prevent and reduce the risk, especially for those population groups facing disproportionate risk due to existing inequities. This will include developing resources and promoting awareness in a manner that reflects Indigenous ways of knowing and culturally appropriate methodologies recognizing the need for Indigenous self-determination in action.

PHAC will integrate broader public health perspectives into climatic event preparedness and response. For example, the development and release of a toolkit considering the public health impacts of evacuations from climate-related emergencies is planned for spring 2025-26. The Agency will also implement the Climate Change and Public Health Plan, which outlines PHAC's approach and unique contribution to equitable public health actions to address the health impacts of climate change, in partnership with its Health Portfolio partners. In 2025-26, PHAC plans to build public health system capacity, provide public health guidance and risk communications, integrate public health considerations into emergency preparedness and response, advance understanding of climate change and public health impacts on health, and support community resilience.

PHAC's work in addressing climate change-related health risks supports the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change and the National Adaptation Strategy and its associated Government of Canada Adaptation Action Plan.

Results we plan to achieve

Reducing the impact of foodborne illness outbreaks

Every year, 1 in 8 Canadians are affected by a foodborne illness, also known as enteric diseases. Although most cases of enteric disease are mild and require only a day or two of reduced activities, some cases can be severe and result in hospitalization, serious chronic conditions, or death. PHAC plays a critical role in responding to foodborne illness outbreaks and communicating to Canadians to avoid exposure to food that may be contaminated. In 2023-24, PHAC responded to 99% of foodborne illness outbreaks detected within 24 hours of notification, and the Agency plans to continue to respond promptly to such outbreaks in the coming fiscal year.

PHAC will continue to work with provinces, territories and local public health partners to detect, assess, and respond to foodborne disease outbreaks and to conduct foodborne and waterborne disease surveillance through FoodNet Canada, CIPARS, and the National Enteric Surveillance Program (NESP). This work will support the Government of Canada's food safety policy, interventions, and prevention strategies. For example, PHAC will use the data recently collected in the Foodbook 2.0 study to inform its response and public health interventions to outbreaks of enteric illnesses, to support the development of burden of enteric disease estimates, and to inform source attribution activities and risk assessments with the goal of reducing the negative impact of these events on the health of Canadians. PHAC will also continue to provide evidence-based information to Canadians to help them make informed decisions to better protect themselves from foodborne illness.

Supporting disease surveillance operations and data infrastructure

PHAC's infectious disease surveillance operations are integral to the Agency's ability to detect, prepare for, and respond to public health events. Select surveillance programs enable PHAC to rapidly detect outbreaks and assess threats as well as collect and analyze information on zoonotic, respiratory, and vaccine-preventable infectious diseases. Surveillance supports PHAC's ability to identify and forecast public health threats and provides key information to both the Agency and decision-makers to make practical and evidence-informed decisions, as well as develop policies and programs.

In 2025-26, PHAC will develop, implement, and integrate flexible data systems to meet the diverse operational needs of PHAC's programs running on modern, secure cloud-based infrastructure. PHAC will continue to modernize and automate its Integrated Threat Assessment Platform and Tool, its Outbreak Management Division System, as well as implement innovative tools and approaches to more effectively process public health data, and expand these interoperable systems to support zoonotic and respiratory surveillance. This will allow PHAC to identify and respond to emerging public health risks more rapidly and efficiently.

The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the importance of anticipating and preparing for future public health risks. In 2025-26, the Agency will work towards increasing the timeliness, accuracy, and detail of scientific evidence regarding public health surveillance it generates. PHAC will use the evidence provided by its laboratory work to prepare for and maintain its capacity to provide domestic and integrated laboratory surveillance, laboratory-based emergency management, and deployment capabilities in the event of a future pandemic and outbreak response.

In addition, to implement the 2023–2026 Data Strategy for the Federal Public Service, the Agency will develop a Strategic Surveillance Plan for 2025-28, monitor the performance of its public health surveillance systems, as well as pursue shared priorities with provincial and territorial partners. In sync with the Federal Data Strategy, and in answer to calls for systemic improvements to PHAC's pandemic response, the Agency is renewing its own Data Strategy to better support the organization in advancing its mandate.

In 2025-26, PHAC will continue the iterative development of a mechanism to provide flexible intake of data from provinces, territories and partners as part of its modernized data platforms and systems. These approaches will have the objective of facilitating the submission, automation, standardization and security of data shared with PHAC, which in turn will enable the Agency to provide information to decision-makers more rapidly and at a reduced cost due to the elimination of manual processes and duplication.

PHAC will also be making further investment in the next generation of open, cost-effective data analysis tools (e.g., R/Python) to embed enhanced and modern data practices in line with data systems that are interoperable by design. These next generation systems enable secure and timely information exchange between partners without additional action by users, enabling PHAC's data to be more timely, flexible to handle new public health challenges, and adaptable to new requirements.

Leveraging scientific and laboratory innovation and leadership

Laboratory science is vital to the generation of scientific evidence used across the Agency to protect Canadians from new and emerging infectious diseases. Since 2021, PHAC has had the capacity to accurately test for 99-100% of new pathogens of international concern. In 2025-26, PHAC will advance laboratory science and the detection, identification, characterization, monitoring, and testing of infectious diseases to support public health response efforts, including for COVID-19, influenza, invasive bacterial diseases, RSV, other emerging respiratory diseases, and vaccine preventable diseases. For example, PHAC will advance high-consequence pathogen detections and characterization, support the maintenance of post-pandemic wastewater monitoring and systems, adapt genomic sequencing capabilities to include priority pathogens, and integrate genomic methods into its surveillance work of climate-sensitive infectious diseases. Working with academia, industry, and public health partners (for example, provincial, territorial, Indigenous and community-based organizations), the Agency will carry out research and development on infectious diseases to provide knowledge and evidence to guide and inform public health action in Canada.

PHAC will strive to provide timely and highly specialized laboratory expertise for existing and emerging infectious disease threats and support the Agency's monitoring programs to increase capacity to identify new and concurrent pathogens of national and international concern. PHAC will also build its capacity to respond to public health events by investing in the advancement of Medical Countermeasures (MCM) infrastructure and initiating plans to construct a new high-containment laboratory in Winnipeg, Manitoba as part of a special purpose allotment funding.

Providing leadership and increasing public trust

PHAC is a trusted source of science-based information for Canadians. As noted in its recently released Science Strategy, PHAC aims to evolve the science of public health communication and work with partners and key stakeholders such as health professionals to further foster public trust and enable Canadians to make informed health decisions based on science.

In 2025-26, the Agency will provide timely, evidence-informed public health guidance and recommendations to the public and decision-makers related to domestic and international public health issues, including emerging and re-emerging diseases. For example, PHAC will publicly share up-to-date integrated public health surveillance data on priority zoonotic, respiratory, and vaccine preventable diseases using new and refined products such as dashboards that will enable users to disaggregate data based on geographic location, age group, sex, seasonality, and case classification. PHAC will also seek external scientific advice on its research plans and priorities through its External Advisory Committee on Science.

Further, PHAC will support relevant research activities to fill important knowledge gaps regarding public health measures, ensuring that guidance and advice products are based on the best available scientific evidence. PHAC is committed to making its science activities and their impacts more transparent and visible, such that Canadians benefit from the science the Agency leads and enables on their behalf. As such, PHAC will focus on operational transparency and openness in the data and science that is used to inform its work and the scientific basis for public health guidance development.

In addition, the Agency will work towards countering mis- and dis- information, which can present a significant challenge to public policy making and public health interventions, as illustrated during the COVID-19 pandemic. To accomplish this, the Agency will increase availability of clear, accessible, timely, tailored, and evidence-informed health information, leveraging its partnerships, risk communications, and behavioural and social science research to increase public trust and communicate in a culturally sensitive manner with Canadians on how they can protect themselves and their communities from infectious diseases and make informed decisions about their health.

Reducing the incidence of tuberculosis while addressing its impact

Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious illness caused by bacteria that mainly affects the lungs. Although the incidence of active TB cases in Canada is generally low, this disease continues to disproportionately affect Indigenous Peoples and people born outside of Canada due to longstanding social and structural determinants of health such as historical trauma, racism, and colonization, causing barriers to healthcare access, and resulting in health inequities. In 2022, Inuit had an incidence rate of 136.7 active cases and First Nations had an incidence rate of 21.4 active cases whereas non-Indigenous Canadians had an incidence rate of 0.3 active cases per 100,000 population. To address this public health priority, in 2025-26 PHAC will collaborate with its federal, provincial, territorial, and Indigenous rights holders and partners such as the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Assembly of First Nations, and Métis National Council to support initiatives aiming to eliminate TB, including the development of a TB elimination strategy for Canada.

With public health officers placed in northern, rural, and remote jurisdictions, the Agency will support surveillance of active TB cases and TB drug resistance. PHAC will also support community wide screening in the event of TB outbreaks, provide laboratory supports, and improve access to critical TB medications.

Identifying and responding to infectious disease outbreaks and pandemics

Many infectious diseases can be transmitted from animals to humans (i.e., zoonotic diseases) or from humans to humans. In 2025-26, PHAC will update guidelines for the prevention and control of diseases such as invasive group A streptococcal disease and invasive meningococcal disease. PHAC will also strengthen domestic and international collaboration for non-enteric zoonotic diseases. The Agency will implement processes and methodologies to monitor, assess, and report on ongoing and emerging infectious disease threats in Canada and abroad.

Using One Health, an integrated, unifying approach that balances and optimizes the health of people, animals, and the environment through the mobilization of multiple sectors, disciplines, and communities, PHAC will improve the effectiveness of its detection, assessment, monitoring and surveillance activities and its responses to outbreaks and pandemics of emerging and re-emerging pathogens as well as zoonotic threats to protect the health of Canadians. While leveraging its laboratory-based emergency management and deployment capabilities, PHAC will synthesize scientific evidence to inform decision-making, coordinate domestic and international responses, provide technical expertise, create and share educational and awareness materials, and develop public health guidance for these diseases and emerging global threats (e.g., Avian Influenza A (H5N1), mpox) and diseases targeted for global eradication (e.g., polio, measles, rubella). PHAC will apply principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion to consider the needs of diverse population groups when participating in a multisectoral interdisciplinary research agenda for H5N1 and prioritizing the safety and effectiveness of vaccines and therapeutics.

Human prion diseases are uncommon, fatal degenerative brain disorders. Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) is the most common type of prion disease, but there are other forms, including variant CJD, which is caused by the consumption of cattle infected with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE). This variant constitutes significant potential public health risks. Although Canada has been recognized as having negligible risk for BSE by the World Organisation for Animal Health, continued monitoring is required to safeguard public health through Canada's BSE program, which is a collaborative effort between the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Health Canada, and PHAC.

PHAC and the Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Surveillance System (CJDSS) conducts surveillance of human prion diseases in Canada, investigates CJD cases, performs laboratory diagnostics, and collaborates with federal, provincial, and territorial partners to understand and reduce the risks to human health. In 2025-26, PHAC will support public health and healthcare professionals in managing human prion diseases risks, conduct national monitoring and surveillance for all human prion diseases, complete epidemiological investigations, coordinate diagnostic laboratory and pathological testing, and work collaboratively with diverse federal, provincial, and territorial partners and stakeholders. In addition, PHAC will launch a new, advanced data management system and analytical tools to enhance the CJDSS' functionality and responsiveness. The surveillance data collected by PHAC will provide critical evidence to monitor for potential public health risks associated with CJD and evaluate the effectiveness of the BSE risk control measures implemented by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Health Canada.

Preparing for outbreaks and pandemics of infectious diseases

Work to strengthen Canada's pandemic preparedness efforts is underway. PHAC will leverage the Canadian Pandemic Influenza Preparedness: Planning Guidance for the Health Sector as a starting point to develop Canada's Pandemic Preparedness Plan (CPPP). In collaboration with federal, provincial, and territorial authorities, and the engagement of Indigenous leaders, experts, and organizations, PHAC will lead the coordination and development of the CPPP, anticipated to be published in 2025-26. The CPPP will provide detailed strategic advice and overarching principles, as well as technical considerations for pandemic preparedness. PHAC will apply lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic such that the CPPP addresses a wider range of respiratory infectious diseases of pandemic potential. Health equity, ethics, science, communication, and One Health are cross-cutting considerations that will be integrated throughout the CPPP to frame pandemic preparedness planning. The CPPP's Indigenous engagement strategy will include a distinctions-based parallel pathway to allow Indigenous partners to choose which aspects of CPPP development they want to engage on and how they wish to be engaged. This will ensure flexibility of engagement and timing for Indigenous partners.

In 2025-26, PHAC will also play an important role in supporting Health Emergency Readiness Canada (HERC), a Special Operating Agency within the Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) portfolio. HERC was created to build an innovative, dynamic and resilient life sciences and biomanufacturing ecosystem in Canada, as well as bolster Canada's pandemic readiness posture through support for the development of critical MCMs for emergency preparedness. PHAC will guide HERC's activities by identifying public health MCM priorities to inform strategic goals and co-lead the development of a Canadian industrial game plan that will outline how research and industry will be mobilized in the event of a health emergency.

In 2025-26, the Agency will strive to integrate SGBA Plus considerations into its efforts to prevent, control and reduce the spread of infectious disease. PHAC will also strengthen the systematic integration of equity, diversity, and inclusion considerations into its initiatives, programs, and all internal and external services. PHAC plans to expand the accessibility, availability, and cultural relevance of public health resources to reach populations that are disproportionately impacted and are at an increased risk of becoming infected with an infectious disease, including children and youth, older adults, and those living on low incomes.

In 2023, the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada released a Health of People in Canada dashboard which focuses on health equity and provides users with the opportunity to examine data on how health outcomes differ based on sex and, where available, age and geographic location. This dashboard will expand and evolve in 2025-26 as new data becomes available.

PHAC will explore opportunities to increase its capacity to collect disaggregated data to support projects that consider and assess the disproportionate burden of infectious diseases based on socio-demographic and socio-economic factors. For example, the IPF will collect data on the total number of participants and ask funding recipients to provide approximate proportions of the priority populations they serve to generate estimates on the demographics of program participants and confirm the reach to intended audiences. In addition, PHAC's Infectious Disease and Climate Change Fund will integrate health equity considerations into funding application forms, guides and reporting requirements by adding health equity considerations into evaluation criteria and providing applicants with SGBA Plus resources to guide their application process.

PHAC will apply an SGBA Plus lens to STBBI policies and programs, which will include the collection and analysis of disaggregated health data to identify disparities in STBBI rates and the overall impacts of interventions on diverse populations. For example, PHAC will apply SGBA Plus to its strategy to address STBBI and work directly with community partners and people with lived and living experience to inform the direction of federal STBBI programs. Programs funded by the CAF and HRF apply SGBA Plus to prioritize community engagement and focus on cultivating meaningful engagement with priority populations (for example, men who have sex with men, people who use substances, Fist Nations, Inuit and Métis, racialized communities, and migrants).

In addition, PHAC will advance SGBA Plus through the COVID-19 Virtual Library of Health Data and Evidence. Specific evidence on children and youth, First Nations, Inuit, and Métis, and racialized populations is included, indexed, and meta-tagged in the Virtual Library. Furthermore, NACI will employ its Economics, Ethics, Equity, Feasibility, and Acceptability Framework to provide guidance on addressing inequities in vaccination recommendations based on race, gender, education, and socioeconomic status, among others. Such socio-demographic and socio-economic factors will also be strengthened in routine public health surveillance efforts.

Anti-racism in science

In 2024, PHAC finalized its Anti-Racism in Science Framework and Action Plan. This work integrates anti-racism principles and approaches into PHAC's core values and culture, and across the Agency's programs and initiatives. In 2025-26, PHAC will support the implementation of the Framework and Action Plan through interactive engagements, presentations, and leadership-led dialogues. This work will be an ongoing process for the Agency and is designed to foster a shared commitment to dismantling racial biases and systemic racism, creating space for transparent conversations and cultivating an inclusive culture that permeates PHAC's values, science workforce, and methods for generating and using evidence.

PHAC's work to improve public health surveillance, strengthen infection prevention and control measures, and reduce transmission of disease in Canada supports the United Nation's Agenda for Sustainable Development. PHAC's planned activities will advance UN SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being by collaborating with partners to increase knowledge and reduce barriers to accessing health services, and work to build and sustain public confidence in vaccines and enhance uptake, to support individuals in making healthy decisions for themselves and their families. PHAC will facilitate federal, provincial, and territorial use of existing mechanisms to provide publicly-funded routine vaccinations through provincial and territorial government vaccination programs. These efforts are intended to maintain Canada's status as a leader in vaccination and align our priorities with the WHO's Immunization Agenda 2030.

In addition, PHAC's infectious disease programming will also support the advancement of UN SDG 13: Climate Action and UN SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals by contributing to the mitigation of climate change impacts on health and by implementing the five-year (2023-2027) PCAP on AMR. PHAC is developing a revised list of priority pathogens to guide AMR surveillance, which is anticipated to be released in spring 2025.

More information on PHAC's contributions to Canada's Federal Implementation Plan on the 2030 Agenda and the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy can be found in our Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy.

• Description
• Quality of life impacts
• Indicators, results and targets
• Plans to achieve results
• Planned resources to achieve results
• Related government priorities
• Program inventory

Results we plan to achieve

Preparing Canada to respond to public health events

A strong public health system is the best defense against any public health threat such as infectious diseases and pandemics, chemical and nuclear incidents, or natural disasters with health consequences. In 2023-24, Canada's level of readiness to respond to public health events and emergencies, as assessed using the WHO's mandatory State Party Annual Self-Assessment Report (SPAR) Tool, was rated at 4.75/5, surpassing its target of 4.5/5. PHAC also responded to 100% of its requests for assistance for deployment of PHAC staff, for the provision of supplies and for inter-jurisdictional mutual aid for health care professionals.

In 2025-26, PHAC will further strengthen Canada's capacity to detect, prevent, mitigate, prepare for, and respond to adverse public health events and emergencies by facilitating access to MCMs through the National Emergency Strategic Stockpile (NESS) when provinces' and territories' capacities have been exhausted or are not immediately available. This encompasses both drugs and biologic products (e.g., pharmaceuticals, vaccines, antivirals, antimicrobials, antidotes, and antitoxins) as well as devices (e.g., diagnostics and testing equipment, biomedical equipment, personal protective equipment, vaccine ancillary supplies, and other medical products). In applying lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, PHAC will seek to reaffirm and clarify federal, provincial, and territorial roles and responsibilities for the procurement of MCMs. PHAC will also address priority action items identified in the NESS Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP), published in 2024, which aims to enhance pan-Canadian readiness to respond effectively and equitably to future public health emergencies, and drive continuous improvement of the NESS.

As part of this work, PHAC will support event-based surveillance and risk assessments to enable early warning to partners and internal and external stakeholders when potential public health threats arise. The Agency will continue to conduct risk assessments of immediate, short, medium and long-term public health risks using standardized methods and a coordinated approach. PHAC will also update the methods and tools that support risk and capability assessments to inform public health decisions. PHAC will maintain a science readiness posture for health emergencies by retaining established systems for science advice, research prioritization, research ethics, science collaboration, and knowledge mobilization. PHAC will also work towards bringing Canada's existing policies and laws into alignment with the updated International Health Regulations for preparedness, surveillance, and response for health emergencies. Finally, PHAC will maintain an adequate public health emergency workforce that includes public health officers and field epidemiologists as well as prepare and provide training curriculums in emergency management and applied epidemiology.

Based on lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, PHAC will continue to work in conjunction with Health Portfolio partners to strengthen risk communications capacity, bolster its emergency management operations, and maintain Incident Management Systems.

PHAC exercises leadership at the national level relating to emergency management and collaborates closely with other government departments, provinces and territories, academia, and other stakeholders (e.g., port owners and operators, transportation industry, international partners) when an emergency spans multiple jurisdictions, has international implications, or when a request for assistance is received. To strengthen emergency preparedness in 2025-26, PHAC will:

• update, maintain, and test key emergency management plans on an ongoing basis, including the Health Portfolio Emergency Response Plan;
• conduct exercises and continuous improvement activities to evaluate and enhance public health event responses;
• cyclically re-orient the public health focus of field staff from the Canadian Public Health Service every 3-5 years to align federal resources embedded in public health organizations with current and emerging public health priorities;
• support the continued development of field epidemiologists to build their core public health competencies through formal training, experiential learning, and service delivery at placement sites across Canada;
• develop and deliver applied public health training (e.g., outbreak investigation, development and evaluation of surveillance systems, contact tracing, interviewing skills etc.) and field readiness training (e.g., cultural competencies, leadership, scientific communication etc.) to public health officers and field epidemiologists, and extend this training to federal, provincial, and territorial partners when resources are available;
• deliver a progressive Public Health Emergency Management training curriculum for employees to build and sustain readiness to respond to future public health emergencies; and
• consolidate important learning resources into an easy-to-access Emergency Management Portal.

PHAC recognizes that public health events and emergencies can exacerbate existing health inequities and create new ones, disproportionately impacting some people over others due to intersecting social and structural determinants of health which impact the extent of their exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity to hazards. As such, the Agency's public health professionals working at the intersection of data and health equity will focus on addressing data and communications complexities of all hazards.

Providing global leadership in health

Recognizing the interconnectedness of health systems and outcomes for domestic and international populations, PHAC will support international work to improve health outcomes for all populations. This focus includes negotiating global instruments, representing Canada on multilateral governance bodies to influence and advance Canadian interests, and cooperating with international partners to strengthen Canada's health security capacity.

In 2025-26, PHAC will work with the WHO to drive international collaboration to address key global health initiatives such as strengthening leadership and governance and advancing efforts to better prevent, prepare for, and respond to health emergencies, including pandemics and climate-related disasters. In 2025-26, leveraging Canada's 2025 G7 Presidency, Canada will deepen cooperation with G7 partners to exchange knowledge, best practices, and joint approaches on effective intersectoral action to protect population health and advance health equity. Participating in multilateral events such as the G7, the G20, and the World Health Assembly will also enable PHAC to meet bilaterally with partners and discuss public health issues of importance to Canadians.

In 2025-26, PHAC will continue to advance key relationships with Denmark, Taiwan, and South Africa through memoranda of understanding (MOU) to advance health portfolio priorities such as mental health promotion, mental illness prevention, health systems strengthening, digital health, life sciences, and antimicrobial resistance. These MOUs enable technical and policy collaboration, as well as information exchanges, with countries that have shared health priorities. Cooperation on mutual health priorities with these countries also contribute to the government of Canada's broader foreign policy and development objectives. For example, Taiwan and South Africa are strategic bilateral partners for Canada, and Canada and South Africa are concurrent presidents of G7 and G20 in 2025. In addition, PHAC will engage in Canada-European Union Health Policy Dialogues which will focus on mutual priority topics, including AMR, health security and climate-related health risks, and non-communicable diseases such as cancer and mental health. The Agency also plans to build relationships with emerging international partners such as Australia and the Africa Centre for Disease Control.

Results we plan to achieve

Monitoring and strengthening compliance of safety provisions for human pathogens and toxins

Human pathogens and toxins pose a risk to the public because of their ability to cause disease or death. Preventing accidents and incidents with these biological agents, as well as deterring the development of biological weapons, is crucial for protecting the health and safety of Canadians. PHAC oversees the safe use and secure containment of human pathogens and toxins and land-dwelling animal pathogens that are native to Canada. The program has historically been highly effective, with 99% of compliance issues in Canadian facilities being successfully responded to within established timelines in 2023-24.

To advance the protection of the health of Canadians, as well as meet the demands of Canada's growing biomanufacturing and life sciences sector, PHAC will monitor and strengthen compliance with the Human Pathogens and Toxins Act and Regulations (HPTA/R). In 2025-26, PHAC will license facilities to conduct controlled activities with human pathogens and toxins. This includes conducting an increasing number of pre-licensing engagements with organizations building new or upgrading existing high-containment laboratories and large scale production facilities. Early and frequent engagement with these organizations throughout the planning and construction phases will provide a clear understanding of regulatory requirements and expectations. With these efforts, PHAC will support the implementation of Canada's Biomanufacturing and Life Sciences Strategy (BLSS) by helping organizations navigate the regulatory landscape more effectively, and increase the likelihood of successful licensing and compliance.

Additionally, PHAC will:

• conduct risk-based inspections and monitoring activities of federally regulated facilities through a range of on-site, remote, and hybrid approaches;
• grant security clearances to validate that individuals requiring access to Security Sensitive Biological Agents, which are high-risk human pathogens and toxins that could be used as biological weapons, do not pose undue risk;
• provide current, comprehensive, and evidence-informed guidance and tools to further strengthen compliance in federally regulated facilities; and
• modernize the program's case management system and integrate digital tools to facilitate laboratory inspections and improve exchanges with regulated parties.

Advancing global health security priorities in biosafety and biosecurity

PHAC will work with other countries and international partners to strengthen global health security in biosafety and biosecurity. In 2025-26, PHAC will deliver on the agreed upon workplan as a WHO Collaborating Centre for Biosafety and Biosecurity, which includes sharing technical expertise and best practices. This work will strengthen the Agency's ability to leverage Canadian experience and expertise to advance Canada's global health security commitments. PHAC will also support global efforts to contain polio by advancing the destruction or transfer of all unneeded, potentially infectious materials within Canada to a designated containment facility. Furthermore, PHAC will provide strategic direction to the Global Health Security Initiative (GHSI) working groups to strengthen the domestic health capacities of its members.

Results we plan to achieve

Limiting public health risks at ports of entry

Every year, many travelers visit Canada, return to the country, or settle here as new Canadians. PHAC protects the health and safety of Canadians by monitoring and mitigating communicable disease and other health risks posed by travel across Canada's borders. Canada has consistently surpassed its target for effective public health response at designated points of entry into the country established in the International Health Regulations.

With time-limited funding from Budget 2023, lasting improvements to PHAC's border and travel health program will be made to mitigate the risk of importation of communicable disease, capture lessons learned from past response operations and best available evidence, and keep pace with the approaches of domestic and international partners. For example, in 2025-26, PHAC will work with border partners to mitigate risks posed by the importation and spread of communicable diseases, including by responding to incidents and emerging hazards. As such, PHAC will maintain a physical presence at the four major air ports of entry:

• Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport;
• Toronto Pearson International Airport;
• Vancouver International Airport; and
• Calgary International Airport.

The Agency will also conduct virtual health screening for all ports of entry 24/7/365 via the Central Notification System.

To protect the health of Canadians travelling internationally and reduce the risk of importing communicable disease to Canada, PHAC will identify, assess, and monitor potential global public health risks to inform the development of products and tools that promote travel health (e.g., web content on travel.gc.ca, social media content, signage, digital screens, graphics) including at ports of entry.

The Agency will lead efforts to improve the reach of travel health messaging by making information more accessible, improving the effectiveness and relevance of information, and expanding tailored messaging to diverse population groups. This will include developing content for priority populations identified through public opinion research and stakeholder engagements where known gaps exist (e.g., youth and young adults, migrants, those visiting friends and family, etc.), and developing content to respond to changing and emerging needs (e.g., climate change and mental health).

By implementing its outreach strategy, PHAC will work with partners across ports of entry on plans and preparedness, engage and strengthen relationships within the transportation sector, port authorities, and federal, provincial, and territorial partners to enable coordinated and coherent joint action when risks of importing and spreading communicable disease emerge.

In addition, PHAC will administer its Yellow Fever Designation Center Program to comply with Canada's obligations under the International Health Regulations. Yellow Fever is the only disease designated where proof of vaccination or prophylaxis may be required for travelers as a condition of entry to another country.

Finally, PHAC will provide secretariat support to the Committee to Advise on Tropical Medicine and Travel (CATMAT) in the development of evidence-informed travel health guidance on the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases and other health hazards that may be encountered by Canadians travelling abroad for healthcare professionals.

Mitigating public health risks on federally regulated conveyances

PHAC provides oversight for the mitigation of environmental health risks in the federally regulated transportation sector. In 2025-26, PHAC will protect the travelling public by working with the passenger conveyance industry to mitigate risks associated with sanitation, water, and food preparation or handling. This includes risk-based inspections of federally regulated conveyances and ancillary services, as well as ship sanitation inspections in fulfillment of Canada's International Health Regulations obligations.

To support these activities, PHAC will modernize its digital technologies, including for case management, which will be instrumental in promoting risk-based inspection planning. Risk-based inspection plans consider many variables such as current and past inspection scores, type of vessel, duration of voyage, and whether the conveyance has management plans for public health risks. In 2025-26, PHAC will explore modelling options such as algorithms and statistical sampling to further inform the use of inspection resources. These approaches will also be incorporated into the risk-based inspection module of the new border and travel health electronic travel health information system, which will be subject to routine oversight to ensure risks are being identified and mitigated as intended. In addition, the Agency will develop inspection guidelines to promote industry compliance with best practices and update internal operating procedures.

In 2025-26, the Agency will strive to integrate SGBA Plus considerations into its response to public health events. This will include:

• tailoring emergency response activities to address the needs of priority populations such as older adults;
• delivering training on adapting applied epidemiological methods to work effectively with persons of all genders and/or sexual orientations when collecting, analyzing, and interpreting health data; and
• integrating health equity, diversity, and inclusion considerations into the Applied Epidemiology and Public Health Emergency Management curriculums to equip responders to work in ways which address existing health inequities.

The Agency will incorporate SGBA Plus considerations when conducting pathogen and toxin risk assessments and in the development of Pathogen Safety Data Sheets (i.e., technical documents that describe hazardous properties and guidance on safe use of human pathogens). Specifically, certain population groups are routinely considered (e.g., pregnant people, older adults) to determine whether biological susceptibility or sex-specific differences (at birth) exist and if additional precautions may be necessary when working with these agents.

To incorporate SGBA Plus considerations into its travel health advice, PHAC will offer voluntary intercept surveys to visitors on travel.gc.ca and collect disaggregated data on gender, age, geographic distribution, and identification as a member of a racialized community. The Agency will expand messaging to diverse population groups (e.g., organizations supporting occupational workers, youth, and those visiting friends and family) as part of engagement with key partners and stakeholders.

PHAC will also advance and advocate for the inclusion of health equity as a commitment in key multilateral and bilateral engagements with international partners, including in the international pandemic agreement planned to be finalized in 2025-26 and in the Strategic Plan of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) that will be established for 2026-2031. In addition, PHAC will advocate for gender-responsive, equity-oriented, inclusive and rights-based considerations to be incorporated in all WHO documents and support involvement of Indigenous partners in global health dialogues.

PHAC's efforts to strengthen response capacity, enhance coordination, and support domestic and international assistance align with the broader global agenda of sustainable development and well-being for all. PHAC's planned activities will advance the UN SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being by strengthening its response capacity and coordination with federal, provincial, and territorial partners. This will support public health, reduce the impact of health crises on communities, and promote overall well-being. Health security initiatives also contribute to strengthening the capacity of all countries for early warning, risk reduction, and management of local and global health risks. For example, ongoing border-related activities undertaken by PHAC strengthen Canada's ability to detect and mitigate the transfer of communicable diseases across international borders. PHAC's sharing of technical expertise and capacity-building tools with developing countries enables them to enhance their respective biosafety and biosecurity oversight frameworks and meet International Health Regulations' commitments.

In addition, PHAC also supports the advancement of UN SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation through its administration of the Potable Water on Board Trains, Vessels, Aircraft and Buses Regulations. Through its inspections, PHAC will ensure that passenger transportation operators are compliant with the regulations, that the water on their transport is safe for travelling public consumption and any required actions are addressed in a timely manner.

More information on PHAC's contributions to Canada's Federal Implementation Plan on the 2030 Agenda and the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy can be found in our Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy.

• Description
• Plans to achieve results
• Planned resources to achieve results
• Key risks
• Planning for contracts awarded to Indigenous businesses

In 2025-26, the Agency will advance health equity through the systematic application of SGBA Plus in all its policies, programs, services, and initiatives. The Agency will:

• strengthen governance and accountability by renewing PHAC's SGBA Plus Action Plan Framework and Implementation Strategy to reflect work planned from 2025-26 to 2027-28 and monitor the implementation of the SGBA Plus Branch Integration Plans (BIPs);
• provide a robust SGBA Plus challenge and support function in the review of all public health guidance, Cabinet documents, and other high visibility documents; and
• deliver SGBA Plus training and develop resources and tools tailored to the public health context.

More information on SGBA Plus is available in the SGBA Plus supplementary information table.

PHAC's efforts to advance reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples supports the advancement of UN SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities and UN SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals. This work includes improving bilateral collaboration and linkages among federal, provincial, and territorial officials and Indigenous rights-holders and partners across public health and health care systems, and supporting several other broader actions such as cultural competency training. These activities contribute to the advancement of reconciliation and the implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.

• Spending
• Funding
• Future-oriented condensed statement of operations
• Human resources

Within the Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention core responsibility, the growth in expenditures in 2023-24 is mainly due to new budgetary authorities to launch 9-8-8, a three-digit suicide crisis line providing suicide prevention support, and new budgetary authorities for the Distress Line Investment.

Spending in 2024-25 is forecasted to decrease mainly due to the expiry of budgetary authorities for the Distress Line Investment and the Dementia Strategic Fund, and slightly offset with an increase in funds for the Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care Transformation Initiative (IELCC).

Expenditures within the Infectious Disease Prevention and Control core responsibility reflect the shift from the COVID-19 pandemic response, with spending reductions from 2022-23 to 2023-24 in the following areas: the procurement of COVID-19 therapeutics, supporting provinces and territories for costs incurred to implement the COVID-19 proof of vaccination, the Immunization Partnership Fund, and the Sero-Surveillance Consortium. These decreases are slightly offset with increased spending in 2023-24 to address the mpox outbreak, the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines, and the surveillance and risk assessment initiative. Further reductions are forecasted in 2024-25 with significantly reduced funding for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines, including pediatric vaccines, and expiring funding to address the mpox outbreak. The forecasted decreases for 2024-25 are partially offset by an increase in budgetary authorities allocated to enhancing Canada's capacity for domestic vaccine production in response to potential pandemics or health emergencies.

Under Health Security, the downward expenditure trend is due to the demobilization of border travel and quarantine measures and reduced procurement of medical supplies and equipment, including personal protective equipment. The decrease is partially offset with an increase in budgetary authorities in 2024-25 to establish an agile, resilient, and adaptive workforce and maintain and enhance the stockpile of medical countermeasures for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats.

Spending under Internal Services has been consistent in 2022-23 and 2023-24 with a forecasted decrease in spending for 2024-25 due to reduced temporary budgetary authorities to establish an agile, resilient, and adaptive workforce.

More financial information from previous years is available on the Finances section of GC Infobase.

From 2025-26 through 2027-28, there is a downward shift in planned spending, with a gradual reduction observed in all the Agency's core responsibilities and internal services. This is primarily due to the reduction of temporary budgetary authorities to establish an agile, resilient, and adaptive workforce in 2025-26 and their expiry in 2026-27.

Decreases specific to the Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention core responsibility relate to the expiry of budgetary authorities for 9-8-8: Suicide Crisis Helpline, Gender Based Violence, Diabetes, and Mental Health, including Mental Health of Black Canadians.

Decreases to planned spending observed in Infectious Disease Prevention and Control are explained by the gradual expiry of budgetary authorities for the surveillance and risk assessment initiative in 2025-26, the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines and influenza vaccines in 2026-27, and a reduction in budgetary funding for the Vaccine Injury Support Program.

Further decreases in planned spending within Health Security reflect a gradual reduction in temporary budgetary authorities for the purchase of medical supplies and equipment, including personal protective equipment.

Decisions on the renewal of initiatives with expiring budgetary authorities will be made in future budgets and reflected accordingly in subsequent Estimates and Departmental Plans.

More detailed financial information on planned spending is available on the Finances section of GC Infobase.

As signatory to the WHO's International Health Regulations (2005), PHAC earns revenue from inspections conducted on international maritime vessels and issuing Ship Sanitation Certificates and Ship Sanitation Exemption Certificates. Fees are charged in accordance with Canada's Service Fees Act. The Agency's planned revenue from the inspection of maritime vessels in 2025-26 is $0.95 million.

Information on the alignment of PHAC's spending with Government of Canada's spending and activities is available on GC InfoBase.

The decrease in net cost of operations in 2025-26 is mainly due to decreases in prepaid expenses and inventory holdings balances, as well as reductions in activities related to the surveillance and risk assessment initiative, to establish an agile, resilient and adaptive workforce, the Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care (IELCC), the Centre for Aging & Brain Health Innovation, and the procurement of medical supplies and equipment, including personal protective equipment. This is slightly offset with an increase in activities for the 9-8-8: Suicide Crisis Helpline.

The Agency's Future-oriented Statement of Operations is based on its 2025-26 Main Estimates and accrual information and does not include future supplementary estimates.

A more detailed Future-Oriented Statement of Operations and associated Notes for 2025-26 including a reconciliation of the net cost of operations with the requested authorities, is available on PHAC's website.

From 2022-23 to 2023-24, the Agency's full-time equivalents decreased due to the gradual reduction in activities for key COVID-19 response areas such as the procurement and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, medical supplies and equipment, including personal protective equipment, border testing and travel measures, and bolstering surge capacity to sustain the Agency's pandemic response. Further decreases were also observed due to the decrease in budgetary authorities to support health assessments for Afghans and Ukrainians coming into Canada.  

From 2023-24 to 2024-25, the Agency's full-time equivalents decreased across all core responsibilities and internal services primarily due to the decrease of temporary budgetary authorities to establish an agile, resilient and adaptive workforce. Additionally, under the Health Security core responsibility a large portion of the decrease can be attributed to a decrease in budgetary authorities for the warehousing of personal protective equipment.

The Agency's planned Full Time Equivalents (FTE) reflect an update to the methodology previously used and is based on workforce affordability. The FTE start gradually decreasing in 2025-26, nearing a return to pre-pandemic staffing levels by 2026-27. The decrease in FTE from 2025-26 to 2026-27 within each core responsibility and internal services is mainly due to the expiration of budgetary authorities to establish an agile, resilient and adaptive workforce in 2026-27.

Decisions on the renewal of initiatives with expiry of budgetary authorities will be taken in future budgets and reflected accordingly in subsequent Estimates and Departmental Plans.

Appropriate minister:

The Honourable Marjorie Michel, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Health

Institutional head: Nancy Hamzawi (interim)

Ministerial portfolio: Health

Enabling instruments: Public Health Agency of Canada Act, Department of Health Act, Emergency Management Act, Quarantine Act, Human Pathogens and Toxins Act, Health of Animals Act, Federal Framework on Lyme Disease Act, and Federal Framework for Suicide Prevention Act.

Year of incorporation / commencement: 2004

Other: In June 2012, the Deputy Heads of Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada signed a Shared Services Partnership Framework Agreement. Under this agreement, each organization retains responsibility for a different set of internal services and corporate functions. These include: human resources; real property; information management/information technology; security; internal financial services; communications; emergency management; international affairs; internal audit services; and evaluation services.

Mailing address:

Public Health Agency of Canada
130 Colonnade Road
Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9

Telephone: 1-844-280-5020

Website: Public Health Agency of Canada

appropriation (crédit)

Any authority of Parliament to pay money out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

budgetary expenditures (dépenses budgétaires)

Operating and capital expenditures; transfer payments to other levels of government, departments or individuals; and payments to Crown corporations.

core responsibility (responsabilité essentielle)

An enduring function or role performed by a department. The intentions of the department with respect to a core responsibility are reflected in one or more related departmental results that the department seeks to contribute to or influence.

Departmental Plan (plan ministériel)

A report on the plans and expected performance of an appropriated department over a 3 year period. Departmental Plans are usually tabled in Parliament each spring.

departmental result (résultat ministériel)

A consequence or outcome that a department seeks to achieve. A departmental result is often outside departments' immediate control, but it should be influenced by program-level outcomes.

departmental result indicator (indicateur de résultat ministériel)

A quantitative measure of progress on a departmental result.

departmental results framework (cadre ministériel des résultats)

A framework that connects the department's core responsibilities to its departmental results and departmental result indicators.

Departmental Results Report (rapport sur les résultats ministériels)

A report on a department's actual accomplishments against the plans, priorities and expected results set out in the corresponding Departmental Plan.

full-time equivalent (équivalent temps plein)

A measure of the extent to which an employee represents a full person-year charge against a departmental budget. For a particular position, the full-time equivalent figure is the ratio of number of hours the person actually works divided by the standard number of hours set out in the person's collective agreement.

gender-based analysis plus (GBA Plus) (analyse comparative entre les sexes plus [ACS Plus])

Is an analytical tool used to support the development of responsive and inclusive policies, programs, and other initiatives. GBA Plus is a process for understanding who is impacted by the issue or opportunity being addressed by the initiative; identifying how the initiative could be tailored to meet diverse needs of the people most impacted; and anticipating and mitigating any barriers to accessing or benefitting from the initiative. GBA Plus is an intersectional analysis that goes beyond biological (sex) and socio-cultural (gender) differences to consider other factors, such as age, disability, education, ethnicity, economic status, geography (including rurality), language, race, religion, and sexual orientation.

Using GBA Plus involves taking a gender- and diversity-sensitive approach to our work. Considering all intersecting identity factors as part of GBA Plus, not only sex and gender, is a Government of Canada commitment.

government priorities (priorités gouvernementales)

For the purpose of the 2025-26 Departmental Plan, government priorities are the high-level themes outlining the government's agenda in the most recent Speech from the Throne.

horizontal initiative (initiative horizontale)

An initiative where two or more federal departments are given funding to pursue a shared outcome, often linked to a government priority.

Indigenous business (entreprise autochtones)

For the purpose of the Directive on the Management of Procurement Appendix E: Mandatory Procedures for Contracts Awarded to Indigenous Businesses and the Government of Canada's commitment that a mandatory minimum target of 5% of the total value of contracts is awarded to Indigenous businesses, a department that meets the definition and requirements as defined by the Indigenous Business Directory.

non-budgetary expenditures (dépenses non budgétaires)

Non-budgetary authorities that comprise assets and liabilities transactions for loans, investments and advances, or specified purpose accounts, that have been established under specific statutes or under non-statutory authorities in the Estimates and elsewhere. Non-budgetary transactions are those expenditures and receipts related to the government's financial claims on, and obligations to, outside parties. These consist of transactions in loans, investments and advances; in cash and accounts receivable; in public money received or collected for specified purposes; and in all other assets and liabilities. Other assets and liabilities, not specifically defined in G to P authority codes are to be recorded to an R authority code, which is the residual authority code for all other assets and liabilities.

performance (rendement)

What a department did with its resources to achieve its results, how well those results compare to what the department intended to achieve, and how well lessons learned have been identified.

performance indicator (indicateur de rendement)

A qualitative or quantitative means of measuring an output or outcome, with the intention of gauging the performance of a department, program, policy or initiative respecting expected results.

plan (plan)

The articulation of strategic choices, which provides information on how a department intends to achieve its priorities and associated results. Generally, a plan will explain the logic behind the strategies chosen and tend to focus on actions that lead to the expected result.

planned spending (dépenses prévues)

For Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports, planned spending refers to those amounts presented in Main Estimates.

A department is expected to be aware of the authorities that it has sought and received. The determination of planned spending is a departmental responsibility, and departments must be able to defend the expenditure and accrual numbers presented in their Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports.

program (programme)

Individual or groups of services, activities or combinations thereof that are managed together within the department and focus on a specific set of outputs, outcomes or service levels.

program inventory (répertoire des programmes)

Identifies all the department's programs and describes how resources are organized to contribute to the department's core responsibilities and results.

result (résultat)

A consequence attributed, in part, to a department, policy, program or initiative. Results are not within the control of a single department, policy, program or initiative; instead, they are within the area of the department's influence.

Sex- and Gender-Based Analysis Plus (SGBA Plus) (analyse comparative fondée sur le sexe et le genre plus [ACSG Plus])

The Government of Canada's Health Portfolio uses SGBA Plus to develop, implement, and evaluate the Health Portfolio's policies, programs, and initiatives. SGBA Plus is an analytical, intersectional approach used to assess how factors such as sex, gender, age, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability, sexual orientation, cultural background, migration status, and geographic location interact and intersect with each other and broader systems of power. Conducting this analysis helps us to understand how intersecting identity factors, histories, power relations, distribution of resources and individuals' lived realities contribute to differences in accessing health-related resources and health outcomes. Applying SGBA Plus enables the Health Portfolio to formulate responsive and inclusive health research, policies, services, programs and other initiatives to promote greater health equity.

statutory expenditures (dépenses législatives)

Expenditures that Parliament has approved through legislation other than appropriation acts. The legislation sets out the purpose of the expenditures and the terms and conditions under which they may be made.

target (cible)

A measurable performance or success level that a department, program or initiative plans to achieve within a specified time period. Targets can be either quantitative or qualitative.

voted expenditures (dépenses votées)

Expenditures that Parliament approves annually through an appropriation act. The vote wording becomes the governing conditions under which these expenditures may be made.