Moving Forward from the COVID-19 Pandemic: 10 Opportunities for Strengthening Canada’s Public Health Systems
Executive summary

Executive summary

The widespread impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the highly visible nature of the public health response have created a unique opening to take stock of the enduring challenges and novel opportunities facing Canada’s public health systems. We use the plural here intentionally as rather than a single national system, public health in Canada can be more accurately described as an amalgamation of multiple national, provincial, territorial, Indigenous, and local public health organizations and bodies. To leverage this opportunity, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research - Institute of Population and Public Health (CIHR-IPPH) convened a broad national dialogue with the public health community during Spring 2021 that identified key priorities and actions for building effective public health systems that are equipped to tackle ongoing and emerging threats and serve all Canadians. The dialogue sessions revealed that this is both a critical moment requiring systemic change and a time of great possibility for public health in Canada.

Participants highlighted several longstanding stresses on Canada’s public health systems that hindered the COVID-19 response and continue to weaken the capacity to tackle other urgent public health challenges, such as health equity and the effects of climate change. Although recognition of these systemic issues predates the COVID-19 crisis, the pandemic acutely demonstrated the unsustainability of the status quo and the need for a renewed focus on fundamental change across public health systems. Key challenges identified by dialogue participants include:

Although these challenges are not new, the unprecedented and whole-of-society nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and response has created an opening for systemic change at a time of rapid technological innovation, increased awareness of institutionalized racism, colonialism, and inequities, and expanded public engagement in public health decision-making processes. Dialogue sessions highlighted 10 interconnected opportunities and pathways to translate today’s unique context into system-wide action. In particular:

At a time when urgent action is needed to address the health of our communities, country, and planet, the insights distilled in this document can provide a roadmap for thinking about target areas for increased investment and systemic change in the public health sector. Future decisions, however, should be informed by evidence and for many of the opportunities above more research is needed to understand how to tackle future challenges and improve health across populations. We hope that sharing what we heard will inspire the action needed to build a more robust and equitable future for public health in Canada.

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