Surveillance is one of the six core functions of public health in Canada1. Public health surveillance has been defined as, “the continuous and systematic collection, orderly consolidation and evaluation of pertinent data with prompt dissemination of results to those who need to know, particularly those who are in a position to take action”2. Surveillance is used to generate data and information needed to detect and understand health conditions, guide policy development, and take action in resource allocation and program planning.
The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) is leading the Public Health Surveillance 2030 initiative to develop a vision for public health surveillance in Canada for 2025 to 2030. As part of its engagement process with public health experts to develop the Vision, PHAC partnered with the National Collaborating Centres for Infectious Diseases (NCCID) and Determinants of Health (NCCDH) to host consultations with regional experts across Canada. PHAC and the two NCCs agreed that it would be essential to hold the in-person events in large and smaller cities to hear a variety of perspectives. From the beginning of October 2023 to the end of January 2024, NCCID and NCCDH hosted a series of in-person and virtual engagements with public health personnel and allies at all levels of authority, to hear about any frustrations with current public health surveillance systems and to facilitate conversations about aspirations and expectations for a Vision for Public Health Surveillance 2030.
This report documents the approach, methods and results of the in-person and on-line engagement sessions. It is one part of the record of information PHAC is gathering to inform Public Health Surveillance 2030.
It is important to note that the word surveillance is not considered acceptable in many circles. As Janet Smylie notes, “The word surveillance is associated with imposed, possibly involuntary or hidden close observation or inspection by external authority and hence can have negative connotations for Indigenous peoples”3. Furthermore, it is clear that members of the general population may confuse or conflate the purpose of public health surveillance with other forms of government oversight or monitoring and have related concerns about privacy, autonomy and the ethics of collecting and using public health data.4
With these cautions in mind, this document does use the word surveillance as a shorthand. However, NCCID and NCCDH recommend that the final Vision for Public Health Surveillance 2030 takes into account, and responds to, the confusion and the concerns about what is meant by surveillance for public health.
1Canadian Public Health Association https://www.cpha.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/advocacy/strengthen/strengthening-ph-systems-brief-e.pdf
2World Health Organization https://www.emro.who.int/health-topics/public-health-surveillance/index.html
3Smylie, J, 2021. Assessment of and Response to First Nations, Inuit and Métis Well-being. In Visioning the Future of Public Health. National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health. https://www.nccih.ca/Publications/Lists/Publications/Attachments/10351/Visioning-the-Future_EN_Web_2021-12-14.pdf
4Klingler, C., Silva, D.S., Schuermann, C. et al. Ethical issues in public health surveillance: a systematic qualitative review. BMC Public Health 17, 295 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-017-4200-4