Public Health Agency of Canada RSS Feeds

The Public Health Agency of Canada is offering RSS feeds on a trial basis.

What is RSS?

Rich Site Summary (RSS) or as some refer to it, Real Simple Syndication, is a useful tool for keeping updated on your favorite Web sites. Updates to the site are broadcast to subscribers through an RSS feed. Sign up for an RSS feed and a message will appear in your feed reader every time new information is added to the relevant section of the Public Health Agency of Canada Web site. When an update is sent out, it includes a headline and a small amount of text – either a summary or a lead-in to the larger text.

RSS feeds have addresses like a Web site, but you can't read them directly with your browser. You'll view garbled text if you try, because they have a different format than Web pages. In order to receive RSS feeds, you must have an aggregator, otherwise called a feed reader. There are a number of free aggregators online, and with a little searching you will be able to find an interface that appeals to you. In addition to your computer, RSS feeds can also be read on PDAs and cell phones.

When you find a Web site you would like to add to your aggregator, you can do so in one of two ways. Most sites that offer an RSS feed have an RSS or XML button on their homepage that you can click on to instantly add that feed to your aggregator. Depending on your aggregator, you may instead need to copy and paste the URL of the feed into the program.

By either method, the feed will be available as soon as you've added it, and your next update could arrive at any given moment. If you decide that you no longer want to receive updates, simply delete the feed or URL from your aggregator.

Why RSS?

So why use RSS? Some people prefer to subscribe to Web updates via RSS and view them in a feed reader, so that their e-mail box doesn't fill up with mailing list messages. A feed reader allows you to subscribe to news, blogs and other frequently updated content and view the new information at your convenience, separate from your inbox.

For more on RSS, visit the Government of Canada's main RSS page.

News aggregators/News readers

There are numerous RSS news aggregators / news readers available for free download or for purchase on the Internet.

• RSS Readers for Windows
• RSS Readers for MAC
• RSS Readers for Linux
• RSS Readers for Handhelds
• Browser Based RSS Newsreaders

Technical problems? Feedback?

Please let us know if you encounter any technical problems, have a suggestion, or just want to tell us that you find the feeds useful.