Healthy Canadians: A Healthier World

Protecting Canadians:

Emergency response, vital research and communication

In a world where people are constantly on the move, PHAC’s networks and surveillance systems help ensure Canada’s health professionals have reliable access to current information about chronic and infectious disease trends and treatments, and physical and mental health and wellness.

At PHAC’s National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg, a containment level 4 lab, PHAC scientists study the world’s deadliest pathogens and develop preventative vaccines. We link this knowledge with our comprehensive experience in the social sciences—how people work, think and behave—to create integrated, real-world solutions to urgent and ongoing public health issues.

Improving health where it matters most

PHAC works with health professionals, provincial and territorial governments and professional and voluntary organizations to effect real change where it matters most. By building these strong relationships at all levels, we are able to integrate and implement effective public health responses. We work to prevent and reduce the spread of infection. We also help Canadians identify and overcome the factors leading to obesity, poor mental health and chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and respiratory diseases, which are some of the common, preventable and costly health problems facing Canadians.

New world realities

Ever present are the possibilities of large-scale public health emergencies such as disease outbreaks, natural disasters, chemical, biological and nuclear events. To help safeguard Canada, PHAC continually prepares and plans for such crises. Our national health emergency management system stands ready to activate plans and communicate key information across our networks.

We work closely with international agencies such as the World Health Organization to deliver a coordinated, global response. Already having been deployed to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Hong Kong, Angola, Kenya, Bangladesh and Vietnam, our international response teams are equipped with the latest technology to help stop the spread of disease at the source.

Our staff includes biologists, medical doctors, public health nurses, epidemiologists, veterinarians, scientists, researchers and public health policymakers.

Saving lives: anywhere, anytime

Through its Health Emergency Response Teams (HERT), PHAC provides access to trained, multidisciplinary health emergency response personnel located across Canada. This PHAC initiative supports an all hazards pan-Canadian emergency response system that is integrated and flexible. The HERTs, as well as the equipment and supplies located across Canada, can be combined to assist the provincial and territorial response to health emergencies of any size.