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Public Health Agency of Canada Act (S.C. 2006, c. 5)

Assented to 2006-12-12

Public Health Agency of Canada Act

S.C. 2006, c. 5

Assented to 2006-12-12

An Act respecting the establishment of the Public Health Agency of Canada and amending certain Acts

SUMMARY

This enactment establishes the Public Health Agency of Canada to assist the Minister of Health in exercising or performing the Minister’s powers, duties and functions in relation to public health. It also provides that the Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the collection and management of public health information and the protection of confidential information, including personal information. It also makes related and consequential amendments to certain Acts.

Preamble

WHEREAS the Government of Canada wishes to take public health measures, including measures relating to health protection and promotion, population health assessment, health surveillance, disease and injury prevention, and public health emergency preparedness and response;

WHEREAS the Government of Canada wishes to foster collaboration within the field of public health and to coordinate federal policies and programs in the area of public health;

WHEREAS the Government of Canada wishes to promote cooperation and consultation in the field of public health with provincial and territorial governments;

WHEREAS the Government of Canada also wishes to foster cooperation in that field with foreign governments and international organizations, as well as other interested persons or organizations;

AND WHEREAS the Government of Canada considers that the creation of a public health agency for Canada and the appointment of a Chief Public Health Officer will contribute to federal efforts to identify and reduce public health risk factors and to support national readiness for public health threats;

NOW, THEREFORE, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

SHORT TITLE

Marginal note:Short title

1. This Act may be cited as the Public Health Agency of Canada Act.

INTERPRETATION

Marginal note:Definitions

2. The following definitions apply in this Act.

“Agency”

« Agence »

“Agency” means the Public Health Agency of Canada established by section 3.

“Chief Public Health Officer”

« administrateur en chef »

“Chief Public Health Officer” means the Chief Public Health Officer appointed under subsection 6(1).

“Minister”

« ministre »

“Minister” means the Minister of Health.

PUBLIC HEALTH AGENCY OF CANADA

Marginal note:Establishment

3. The Public Health Agency of Canada is established for the purpose of assisting the Minister in exercising or performing the Minister’s powers, duties and functions in relation to public health.

Marginal note:Minister to preside

4. The Minister presides over the Agency and has the management and direction of it.

Marginal note:Delegation to Agency

  • 5. (1) The Minister may, subject to any terms and conditions that the Minister specifies, delegate to an officer or employee of the Agency any of the powers, duties and functions that the Minister is authorized to exercise or perform under any Act of Parliament or any order made by the Governor in Council in respect of public health.

  • Marginal note:Restriction

    (2) Subsection (1) does not authorize the Minister to delegate a power to make regulations nor a power to delegate under that subsection.

CHIEF PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICER

Marginal note:Appointment

  • 6. (1) The Governor in Council shall appoint a Chief Public Health Officer, who is the deputy head of the Agency.

  • Marginal note:Qualifications required

    (2) The Chief Public Health Officer shall be a health professional who has qualifications in the field of public health.

Marginal note:Lead health professional

  • 7. (1) The Chief Public Health Officer is the lead health professional of the Government of Canada in relation to public health.

  • Marginal note:Communication with governments, public health authorities and organizations

    (2) The Chief Public Health Officer may, with respect to public health issues, communicate with governments, public health author-ities or organizations in the public health field, within Canada or internationally.

  • Marginal note:Communication with the public, voluntary organizations and the private sector

    (3) The Chief Public Health Officer may communicate with the public, voluntary organizations in the public health field or the private sector for the purpose of providing information, or seeking their views, about public health issues.

Marginal note:Tenure of office and removal

  • 8. (1) The Chief Public Health Officer holds office during pleasure for a term not exceeding five years.

  • Marginal note:Reappointment

    (2) The Chief Public Health Officer may be reappointed for one or more additional terms.

Marginal note:Rank and status

9. The Chief Public Health Officer has the rank and status of a deputy head of a department.

Marginal note:Remuneration

  • 10. (1) The Chief Public Health Officer shall be paid, for the performance of his or her duties and functions, the remuneration fixed by the Governor in Council.

  • Marginal note:Travelling, living and other expenses

    (2) The Chief Public Health Officer shall be paid, in accordance with Treasury Board directives, for reasonable travel, living and other expenses incurred in performing his or her duties and functions while absent from his or her ordinary place of work.

Marginal note:Delegation

11. The Chief Public Health Officer may delegate any of the powers, duties and functions that the Chief Public Health Officer is authorized to exercise or perform, except the power to delegate under this section, to any officer or employee of the Agency.

Marginal note:Annual report on public health

  • 12. (1) The Chief Public Health Officer shall, within six months after the end of each fiscal year, submit a report to the Minister on the state of public health in Canada.

  • Marginal note:Tabling in Parliament

    (2) The Minister shall cause the report to be laid before each House of Parliament on any of the first 15 days on which that House is sitting after the Minister receives the report.

  • Marginal note:Other report on public health

    (3) The Chief Public Health Officer may prepare and publish a report on any issue relating to public health.

  • Marginal note:Data and methodology

    (4) The Chief Public Health Officer shall, to the extent possible, in any report submitted or published under this section, set out the source of the data and information used in the preparation of the report and the methodology employed to arrive at the report’s findings, conclusions or recommendations.

  • Marginal note:Contents of a report

    (5) The Chief Public Health Officer may, in any report submitted or published under this section, refer to public health problems and their causes, as well as any measures that may, in his or her opinion, be effective in preventing or resolving those problems.

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Marginal note:Officers and employees

13. The officers and employees necessary for the proper conduct of the work of the Agency shall be appointed in accordance with the Public Service Employment Act.

Marginal note:Committees

  • 14. (1) The Minister may establish advisory and other committees in relation to public health and provide for their membership, duties, functions and operation.

  • Marginal note:Remuneration

    (2) Members of a committee shall be paid, for the performance of their duties and functions, any remuneration that may be fixed by the Governor in Council.

  • Marginal note:Travel, living and other expenses

    (3) Members of a committee are entitled to be paid, in accordance with Treasury Board directives, for reasonable travel, living and other expenses incurred in the performance of their duties and functions while absent from their ordinary place of work, in the case of full-time members, or from their ordinary place of residence, in the case of part-time members.

Marginal note:Regulations

  • 15. (1) The Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the Minister, make regulations respecting

    • (a) the collection, analysis, interpretation, publication and distribution of information relating to public health, for the purpose of paragraph 4(2)(h) of the Department of Health Act; and

    • (b) the protection of that information if it is confidential information, including if it is personal information as defined in section 3 of the Privacy Act.

  • Marginal note:Offence

    (2) Every person who knowingly possesses, uses or discloses information in contravention of a regulation made under subsection (1) is guilty of an offence and is liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding $50,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both.

TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS

Marginal note:Definitions

16. The following definitions apply in sections 17 to 19.

“former agency”

« ancienne agence »

“former agency” means the portion of the federal public administration known as the Public Health Agency of Canada.

“new agency”

« nouvelle agence »

“new agency” means the Public Health Agency of Canada established under section 3.

Marginal note:Chief Public Health Officer

  • 17. (1) The person occupying the office of Chief Public Health Officer on the day on which this section comes into force remains in office and is deemed to have been appointed under subsection 6(1).

  • Marginal note:Employees

    (2) Nothing in this Act is to be construed as affecting the status of an employee who, immediately before the coming into force of this section, occupied a position in the former agency, except that the employee shall, on that coming into force, occupy that position in the new agency.

  • Definition of “employee”

    (3) In subsection (2), “employee” has the same meaning as in subsection 2(1) of the Public Service Employment Act.

Marginal note:Transfer of appropriations

  • 18. (1) Any amount that is appropriated, for the fiscal year in which this section comes into force, by an appropriation Act based on the Estimates for that year for defraying the charges and expenses of the federal public administration for the former agency and that is unexpended on the day on which this section comes into force is deemed, on that day, to be an amount appropriated for defraying the charges and expenses of the federal public administration for the new agency.

  • Marginal note:Transfer of powers, duties and functions

    (2) If a power, duty or function is, under any Act, order, rule or regulation, or under any contract, lease, licence or other document, vested in or exercisable by an officer or employee of the former agency, the power, duty or function is vested in and shall be exercised by the appropriate officer or employee of the new agency, unless the Governor in Council, by order, designates a deputy minister or an officer of the federal public administration to exercise or perform that power, duty or function.

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