Question Period Note: REVIEW OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH AGENCY OF CANADA’S RESPONSE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

The Office of the Auditor General of Canada conducted a performance audit focused on whether the Public Health Agency of Canada was prepared to respond to a pandemic.

Key Messages
• There are many lessons we have learned from COVID-19, in Canada and around the world.
• The Government of Canada’s response to COVID-19 evolved throughout the pandemic based on the latest available scientific evidence, epidemiology, and expert opinion.
• We will strengthen our pandemic preparedness in Canada, building on the lessons learned.
• The Public Health Agency of Canada will incorporate learnings from the pandemic into its plans and test them as appropriate. The provinces and territories will be critical in this work.
If pressed on the Auditor General’s report on PHAC’s preparedness
• The Auditor General recognized that the Public Health Agency of Canada rapidly mobilized, adapted and responded to the evolving COVID-19 situation, and worked persistently to help Canadians and respond to their needs.
• Areas for improvement were identified to help us become better prepared for future health events, including:
o updating and testing emergency plans;
o addressing existing issues in public health surveillance information sharing;
o monitoring and early warning processes; and
o administration of border and quarantine measures.
• Work is already underway to respond to the recommendations from this audit:
o The Public Health Agency of Canada is working with provincial and territorial partners to build on the information sharing, management and technology improvements already underway.
o The Agency has also restructured its border and travel health program to better respond to the changing pandemic and increase its focus on compliance.
• Regarding early warning processes, the Agency will work to make further improvements to the Global Public Health Intelligence Network, or GPHIN.

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) is responsible for preparing for a wide variety of potential health emergencies, including but not limited to pandemics. The Office of the Auditor General (OAG) identified several key elements of preparedness for improvement including:
o updating and testing emergency plans;
o addressing existing issues in public health surveillance information sharing;
o monitoring and early warning processes; and
o administration of border and quarantine measures.

On emergency plans, recognizing that existing plans provided a framework to guide the current response and that improvements are always possible, PHAC will incorporate learnings from the current pandemic into its plans and future exercises to test and validate these plans, in collaboration with provincial and territorial colleagues and key stakeholders.

PHAC has similarly committed to updating and testing the Health Portfolio Strategic Emergency Management Plan and Health Portfolio Emergency Response Plan within two years after the end of the pandemic, to enhance preparedness to respond to future public health threats and emergencies. In updating and testing these plans, PHAC will work with provincial and territorial partners to reflect shared responsibilities for public health emergencies.
With respect to public health surveillance, monitoring and early warning processes, PHAC is taking similar steps to respond to OAG recommendations and others. Specifically, the OAG report recommended PHAC appropriately utilize its GPHIN monitoring capabilities to detect and provide early warning of potential public health threats, and in particular, clarify decision making for issuing alerts. PHAC has committed to a number of actions to address the recommendations for further improvements to GPHIN, taking into account both the OAG audit report and the recommendations from the Independent Review of GPHIN which include improving and streamlining the decision-making process for the issuance of GPHIN alerts and other GPHIN products and processes.

Key Facts
• The Auditor General tabled this audit report to Parliament and publicly released it on March 25, 2021. In response, PHAC prepared a Management Response and Action Plan.