About Us

The Public Health Agency of Canada is responsible for overall coordination of the Federal Initiative to Address HIV/AIDS in Canada and is the lead agency for the Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative.

The Federal Initiative is a framework for renewing and strengthening the federal role in the Canadian response to HIV/AIDS. The Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative is a collaborative undertaking between the Government of Canada and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to contribute to the global effort to develop a safe, effective, affordable and globally accessible HIV vaccine.

Through these two initiatives, the Government of Canada is leading efforts to fight HIV/AIDS in Canada and around the world.

PHAC’s Federal Initiative activities are housed within the Centre for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control (CIDPC), whose mandate is to promote improvement in the health status of Canadians relating to infectious diseases through public health actions. These public health actions include surveillance and epidemiology; risk management; research, including laboratory science; health promotion; public health policy development; and prevention and care programs..

Within CIDPC, HIV/AIDS-related programs and activities are managed and delivered by:

• the HIV/AIDS Policy, Coordination and Programs Division
• the National HIV and Retrovirology Laboratories
• the Surveillance and Risk Assessment Division
• the Community Acquired Infections Division

PHAC's Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative related programs and activities are manged and developed by

• the Office of HIV Vaccines

The Agency's regional offices also provide operational and project funding at the regional level, through funding provided through the Federal Initiative to Address HIV/AIDS in Canada.