| Post: | Chief Public Health Officer |
| Body: | Canada |
| Insigniasize: | 250px |
| Insignia: | PHAC wordmark.svg |
| Image Upright: | .99 |
| Incumbent: | Theresa Tam |
| Incumbentsince: | 26 June 2017 |
| Department: | Public Health Agency of Canada |
| Abbreviation: | CPHO |
| Reports To: | Minister of Health |
| Appointer: | Governor in Council |
| Formation: | 2004 |
| Inaugural: | David Butler-Jones |
| Termlength: | 5 years |
The chief public health officer of Canada (CPHO; French: administratrice en chef de la santé publique; ACSP) is the lead health professional and primary spokesperson on public health related matters for the Government of Canada. The chief public health officer provides advice to the minister of health and the president of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), works in collaboration with the agency president in the agency's leadership and management, and works with other departments and levels of government on public health matters. PHAC, along with the CPHO post was established in 2004 amidst the SARS crisis.[1]
The third and current chief public health officer of Canada is Theresa Tam, who was appointed in June 2017.
The CPHO position was created by Carolyn Bennett in her position as Minister of State for Public Health (Canada) in 2004, along with the Public Health Agency of Canada.[2] Per the Public Health Agency of Canada Act (2006), the CPHO holds office "during pleasure for a term not exceeding five years".[3] The CPHO can be reappointed for additional terms.
The CPHO is selected through an open and transparent national competitive process, and is appointed by the Governor-in-Council.[4] The process is merit-based: as per the Public Health Agency of Canada Act, the CPHO must be a qualified public health professional.[5]
The CPHO is responsible for:[6]
During public health emergencies, such as outbreaks or natural disasters, the CPHO is responsible for:
The chief public health officer was the head of the Public Health Agency of Canada until 2014, in which government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper reorganized the management structure of PHAC through a 2014 omnibus budget bill and instituted a parallel presidential-structure and position to govern the organization, that then could be staffed by non-medical and non-scientific personnel. The NDP health critic said at the time that: "To bury it in an omnibus bill says to me that they don't want people to know about it and they don't want questions," while Health Minister Rona Ambrose said that "the idea for the new structure came from the agency itself," which was led at the time on an interim basis for the previous 16 months by Gregory W. Taylor.[7]
Theresa Tam, who has held the position since June 26 2017, released a vision statement in early 2018.[8] She wishes to pay particular attention to the reduction of health discrepancies in the country, which includes collaborating with and reducing the socioeconomic gap of Indigenous Peoples. Her six areas of focus are currently:[9]
As CPHO, Tam wrote Fifteen years post-SARS: Key milestones in Canada's public health emergency response, in which she remarked somewhat presciently as it turns out that:[10]
Theresa Tam is the third and present CPHO. Initially taking on the role in an acting capacity on December 16, 2016 following the retirement of Gregory Taylor, Tam was formally appointed on June 26, 2017, and led the Government of Canada's COVID-19 response in 2020.
| 0* | Frank Plummer[11] | 17 May 2004 | 23 October 2004 | Carolyn Bennett | |
| 1 | David Butler-Jones[12] | October 23, 2004 | June 2013 | Carolyn Bennett | |
| 2 | Gregory W. Taylor[13] [14] | September 24, 2014 | December 15, 2016 | Rona Ambrose | |
| 3 | Theresa Tam[15] [16] | June 26, 2017 | Jane Philpott |