Commentary—presentation and reflections on renewing Canada’s public health core competencies
The publication of The Core Competencies for Public Health in Canada, Release 2.0 is the result of 3 years of collaborative efforts and is a rare opportunity to reflect on the transformative processes involved. The updated competencies provide a common language for effective practice and a baseline to fulfill the core functions of public health in Canada. The update process involving the public health community across the country generated powerful insights about the importance of equity, effective governance, meaningful engagement, and the evolving identity of public health in Canada. In this Commentary, we present the renewed Core Competencies for Public Health in Canada and share reflections on what we learned along the way.
Authors
- Donna Atkinson
- Heather Husson
- Yoav Keynan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4948-4707)
- Claire Betker (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6340-1421)
- Margaret Haworth-Brockman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9196-2242)
- Maureen Dobbins (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1968-6765)
- Malcolm Steinberg
- Lydia Ma
- Faith Layden
- Marianne Jacques
- Sarah E. Neil-Sztramko
Institutions
- University of Northern British Columbia (CA)
- Simon Fraser University (CA)
- St. Francis Xavier University (CA)
- BC Centre for Disease Control (CA)
- Institut National de Santé Publique du Québec (CA)
- Institut National de Santé Publique (CI)
- University of Manitoba (CA)
- McMaster University (CA)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Canadian Journal of Public Health
- Published
- 2026-03-16
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.17269/s41997-026-01172-3
- Primary Topic
- Public Health Policies and Education
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00