About Canada’s new pandemic preparedness plan
To make sure Canada is ready to respond to future pandemics, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) is developing Canada's new Pandemic Preparedness Plan together with:
- provinces and territories
- First Nations, Inuit and Métis partners
- pandemic preparedness experts
History of pandemic preparedness planning in Canada
In 1988, Canada was among the first countries to develop a national pandemic plan, which focused on pandemic influenza. Over time, this plan evolved into the Canadian Pandemic Influenza Preparedness: Planning Guidance for the Health Sector (CPIP). Although its focus is to guide Canada through an influenza pandemic, it still provided a foundation for the COVID-19 pandemic response.
Canada learned a lot from the COVID-19 pandemic, and gained valuable lessons on how to respond to diseases that could cause a pandemic. PHAC is using this knowledge, along with best practices from the World Health Organization, to strengthen pandemic preparedness planning. We're leading the work to develop a new pandemic preparedness plan for Canada.
Learn more:
Canada's new plan
We're working with partners to develop Canada's Pandemic Preparedness Plan which is expected to be complete in 2026. The plan will focus on guiding Canada through pandemics caused by respiratory infectious diseases, with the flexibility to evolve over time to address other infectious diseases.
It will also:
- provide a framework that jurisdictions across Canada can use to develop their own specific pandemic plans tailored to their unique needs
- include content on elements such as:
- vaccines
- communicating with the public
- monitoring for potential threats
- measures to protect the people living in Canada
The plan will be updated as needed so that:
- it remains relevant as science progresses and evidence evolves
- new lessons learned can be applied from our collective experiences
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