While health care service delivery is primarily a provincial responsibility, public health is shared across jurisdictions. The federal government plays a key role in public health, in conjunction with provincial, territorial and local governments and other sectors. The federal role in public health is based on the responsibility for infectious disease control at our borders as set out in Canada's Constitution, as with the creation of a federal Department of Health in response to the 1918 influenza pandemic. Over time, this role has grown and evolved to include a broad scope of federal action to protect Canadians from threats to their health, including key federal leadership in the areas of:

• Quarantine Legislation and Programming
• Regulations on the Control of Pathogens
• Emergency and Pandemic Preparedness Initiatives

Since the Lalonde Report of 1974, it is recognized that there is a federal role in public health to promote overall health, including efforts against both infectious and chronic diseases. It is also widely accepted that the federal government has a role to take action on public health issues of national concern, in order to protect, maintain and improve the health of Canadians.

So what does this mean at a practical level? While the federal government has particular responsibility in the event of health emergencies, these powers are rarely used, and there are many public health issues of national concern that fall short of an emergency. For these issues, because public health is shared, the most effective initiatives are those where the federal government works in collaboration with provinces and territories. In these areas, there are opportunities for federal efforts to provide added value, distinct from and complementary to other jurisdictions’ activities. These efforts include:

• National Leadership – the requirement to set national standards and guidelines, mobilize partnerships, coordinate national efforts or build consensus, such as in the case of coordinating and leading surveillance at the national level, or developing a national public health human resources strategy;
• Critical Mass – where the federal government possesses highly specialized technical expertise to provide advice and services in order to build national capacity, such as the public health science capacity housed at the Agency’s laboratories and centres, or its surge capacity in the event of an emergency;
• Economies of Scale – similar to critical mass, where significant existing capacity makes it more affordable to build on existing investments, such as with the Level Four biosafety facilities at the National Microbiology Laboratory; and
• Public Good Investments – where costs are centralized but the potential benefits are widely shared, as with the Agency’s work of sharing and communicating knowledge within the public health community in Canada and abroad.

Given its role to take action on public health issues of national concern, the Government of Canada also has led the launch of new initiatives where others lacked the capacity to do so, such as in the creation of the National AIDS Strategy in 1990.

PHAC representation in all areas is comparable to the available Canadian workforce and the Public Service as a whole:

• Average age - 41.5
• Women - 69.6%
• Visible minorities - 11.7%
• Aboriginal peoples - 3.3%
• Persons with disabilities - 4.4%
• 20.9% of employees identify French
  as their first official language.

PHAC employs a wide range of public health professionals, including over

• 65 biologists
• 40 medical doctors (including those with specializations in
  community medicine, infectious and chronic diseases,
  as well as pediatrics)
• 50 public health nurses (including quarantine nurses
  at Canada’s major international airports)
• 20 veterinarians

PHAC is also proud to be a training ground for many of Canada’s young public health professionals. At any given time, you can find some 200 students learning and contributing to the work of the Agency.

• The diverse level of expertise, skill and experiences among our staff
• Our deep commitment to public health
• The extent and quality of collaboration between the Agency and provincial/ territorial governments and other stakeholders
• Our strong regional presence across the country
• Our world-class laboratories and scientific infrastructure
• The extent to which we have already influenced the public health agenda, both domestically and internationally