Short Title

Marginal note:Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the Public Health Events of National Concern Payments Act.

Public Health Event of National Concern

Marginal note:Payments — public health event of national concern

• 2 (1) If, after consulting with the Chief Public Health Officer, appointed under subsection 6(1) of the Public Health Agency of Canada Act, and any of the officers in the provinces and territories occupying a similar position that the Minister of Health considers appropriate in the circumstances, the Minister of Health determines that there is a public health event of national concern, then there may be paid out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund, on the requisition of a federal minister and with the concurrence of the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Health, all money required to do anything in relation to that public health event of national concern.

• Marginal note:Examples

  (2) Things that may be done in relation to a public health event of national concern include

  • (a) acquiring medical supplies;

  • (b) providing assistance to provinces and territories to help cover the cost of safety and emergency response needs;

  • (c) providing income support, including the Canada emergency response benefit; and

  • (d) funding public health-related federal programs or covering expenses incurred by federal departments and agencies.

• Marginal note:Definition of public health event of national concern

  (3) In this section, public health event of national concern means an extraordinary event that constitutes a public health risk to Canadians through the spread of an infectious disease, such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), that requires a coordinated national or international response to prevent or control its spread or to protect against it.