Outreach, Engagement and Consultations

The Public Health Agency of Canada’s (the Agency’s) Pathogen Regulation Directorate is committed to outreach, engagement and consultation with the public and stakeholders in all aspects of its work. It collaborates with federal partners, provincial and territorial governments, and other interested parties in developing processes that meet specific regulatory and program needs and are flexible enough to respond to changing circumstances and new ideas.

Consultation Principles

In its most recent five-year Strategic Plan, the Agency committed to change “its approach to stakeholder engagement from a position of consultation and ultimate control to a more inclusive and comprehensive approach to engaging stakeholders as full partners in shaping and delivering results.” The federal government has also formalized core consultation principles for regulations in Guidelines for Effective Regulatory Consultations (External link) (Treasury Board Secretariat, 2007). These principles are:

• Meaningfulness – Full and fair opportunities will be provided for input and feedback; all interested parties’ views and opinions will be considered
• Openness and Balance – There will be an appropriate balance of views represented in the development and implementation of the consultation process
• Transparency – The Agency will be transparent throughout the process and clear on how interested parties’ input will be used
• Accountability – The views of all interested parties will be documented, the Agency will report back after each consultation phase and a final summary report will be prepared at the end of the consultation process

Consultations for Human Pathogens and Toxins Act Regulations
In 2010, the Agency began a process for consulting interested parties in developing the regulatory framework, tools, and regulations under the HPTA. This will continue until 2014.

Consultations on the Canadian Biosafety Standards and Guidelines (External link)
In 2011, the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (External link) will work together to consult their respective stakeholders on the development of an updated and harmonized Canadian Biosafety Standards and Guidelines. This will combine a number of existing standards and guidelines and will reduce the regulatory burden on stakeholders working with both human and terrestrial animal pathogens.