Public Health Agency of Canada : The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) was established in 2004, following the SARS outbreak in 2003, to provide a stronger focus on public health and emergency preparedness. It was confirmed as a legal entity in December 2006 by the Public Health Agency of Canada Act. Prior to the enactment of this legislation, the functions, including the spread of infectious diseases, date back to the 19th century and the management of quarantine services.
PHAC is mandated to prevent the spread of infectious and chronic illness, promote healthy behaviours, and respond to public health emergencies. Public health includes disease surveillance, disease and injury prevention, public health emergency preparedness and response, health promotion, regulatory enforcement of the Human Pathogens and Toxins Act (2009) and its regulations (2015). Records created by the Agency in support of its mandate document the federal government's role in public health, and the department is the federal lead on such high profile health incidents as H1N1, Listeria outbreaks, and SARS. The responsibility for public health is shared between the federal government, the provinces and territories, non-government organizations, the private sector and international partners.
PHAC works closely with other departments and agencies in the federal government's health portfolio and reports to Parliament through the Minister of Health. The Agency is managed by the President of PHAC, and the Chief Public Health Officer is the lead health professional in the Government of Canada in relation to public health.
The Agency is organized into three main branches and two major offices: the Infectious Diseases Prevention and Control Branch, which includes the National Microbiology Laboratory; the Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention Branch, which includes the Office of the Chief Dental Officer; and finally the Health Security Infrastructure Branch. The major offices include the Office of Strategic Policy and Planning, and the Office of International Affairs for the Health Portfolio, the latter of which performs its mandate on behalf of the entire Health Portfolio.
In June 2012, the Deputy Heads of Health Canada and PHAC signed a Shared Services Partnership Framework Agreement. Under this agreement, each organization retains responsibility for a different set of internal services and corporate functions. These include communications, emergency management, international affairs, internal audit services, evaluation services, and other administrative activities. PHAC and Health Canada are equal parties in the partnership agreement and share these responsibilities. Researchers are therefore encouraged to consult the Department of Health fonds for additional records related to these shared activities. Researchers should also consult this fonds for additional records related to the federal government's management of public health that were created prior to the establishment of the Agency.
