Chief Public Health Officer of Canada Dr. Theresa Tam speaks at the Canadian Immunization Conference, in Ottawa, on Nov. 27, 2024.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
The Public Health Agency of Canada is looking for a new chief public health officer, with Theresa Tam set to conclude her term in June.
A job posting shows a search is under way to name the federal government’s lead public health official, who plays a key leadership role at the agency designed to promote health, prevent and control chronic diseases and injuries, and prevent and control infectious diseases.
The listing for the Governor-in-Council appointment also describes how the chief public health officer plays an instrumental role in Canada’s ability to plan and respond to public health threats, outbreaks and emergencies. The posting went up last month and application reviews were set to begin on Jan. 13.
Dr. Tam’s successor will take on the role at a challenging time in public health. There are heightened worries about Avian flu, as well as ongoing concerns around the spread of medical misinformation and the politicization of public health, particularly in the United States.
Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Inauguration Day that details plans for his country to leave the World Health Organization – a move that sparked concern, including among Canadian public health experts, who fear the departure will erode global health surveillance. U.S. public health officials have now been told to stop working with the United Nations agency that is designed to promote health and safety.
Further, there is concern about the spread of misinformation by voices such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Mr. Trump’s nominee for U.S. secretary of health and human sciences. Mr. Kennedy has been critical of immunizations. His confirmation hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.
In a report released last October focused on vaccination, Dr. Tam described how vaccines are safe and effective and said that while coverage remains high overall, “vaccination has become a polarized topic, particularly across digital and social media platforms.”
Dr. Tam, who was first named to her role in June, 2017, is a well-known face in Canada because of the COVID-19 pandemic that saw the Public Health Agency roll out the largest vaccination campaign in Canadian history.
In 2022, she told The Globe and Mail that COVID-19 was the first pandemic to take place at a time when social media played a large role in society. She said misinformation “causes real harm and potentially kills.” She also described facing abuse and how that had been a source of personal difficulty as a woman from a visible minority background.
In addition to being targeted personally, Dr. Tam and the Public Health Agency faced criticism about the pandemic response, including about how the Global Public Health Intelligence Network did not issue an alert to provide an early warning about the virus.
This lapse, which was investigated by The Globe, was also detailed in a 2021 Auditor-General report. The watchdog found the agency prepared five rapid risk assessments of the virus outbreak but it did not prepare a forward-looking assessment of pandemic risk as called for in its emergency response plan.
With a report from the Associated Press