Health Committee on Dec. 9th, 2025

[The Clerk of the Committee, Aimée Belmore]

Honourable members of the committee, page 1043 of House of Commons Procedure and Practice stipulates that, “In the absence of the Chair and vice-chairs...the committee clerk must preside over the election of an acting chair before the committee can begin its work.”

I am ready to receive motions to that effect.

Ms. Konanz.

[Helena Konanz, Conservative, Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

I nominate MP Corey Tochor.

[The Clerk]

It has been moved by Ms. Konanz that Mr. Tochor be elected as acting chair of the committee.

Is it the pleasure of the committee to adopt the motion?

(Motion agreed to)

I declare the motion carried and Corey Tochor duly elected acting chair of the committee.

I invite Mr. Tochor to take the chair.

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Corey Tochor]

Good morning, everybody.

It's an honour to be in the health committee.

I call this meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting 17 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format. Everyone's familiar with those rules.

There is translation available on all the mics.

We have a little bit of housekeeping to do. We need to pass the budget for today's meeting in the amount of $500.

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Corey Tochor]

Moving on to the importance of our witnesses, we are going to hear from a couple of different folks here. We will start with the Department of Health.

Department of Health, the floor is yours for five minutes.

[Greg Orencsak, Deputy Minister, Department of Health]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Honourable members, I appreciate the opportunity to be here before the committee today.

My name is Greg Orencsak. I am the deputy minister of health. I'm pleased to be here on behalf of the Honourable Marjorie Michel, Minister of Health, to present an overview of Health Canada's proposed spending under the 2025-26 supplementary estimates (B).

I will take a few moments to outline the key initiatives associated with the new proposed spending for Health Canada.

Health Canada is seeking a net increase for this fiscal year of over $1.6 billion by re-profiling from future-year approved funding, bringing authorities for the department to date to just over $12.3 billion.

Those investments support the department's role in improving access to care, promoting equity and delivering services that Canadians rely on.

A significant portion of this increase is a re-profile of already committed—

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Mr. Chair, I have a point of order.

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

Go ahead on your point of order.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

There's no interpretation.

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

All right; we'll get that looked at.

Could someone speak in English, please?

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

It's good.

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

Can you hear me correctly?

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

It's okay now, but I missed a few sentences from the interpretation.

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

All right.

I paused your time.

I'll turn the floor over to our witness.

[Greg Orencsak]

I was talking about the Canadian dental care plan. A significant portion of the increase that is being reported is a re-profile of already committed funds to support the Canadian dental care plan. The department is seeking access to this already committed $1.6 billion in funding for the plan this year, which has already helped millions of Canadians access oral health care.

The Canadian dental care plan is a relatively new program. Our forecasts indicate that demand will be higher this year than originally forecast, since many people who now have access to dental care haven't received it for a number of years.

This is expected to stabilize in later years once those immediate needs have been treated. Consequently, we are shifting existing committed and available resources to better align with projected program use. Over time, improved access to dental care is expected to reduce pressure on the overall health care system, including fewer emergency care visits for conditions better treated in a dental setting. More broadly, the Canadian dental care plan represents a structural shift in access to oral health care in Canada with expected long-term benefits for population health and system sustainability.

Another targeted transfer is $100,000 from the Public Health Agency of Canada to support the national drug toxicity indicator harmonization pilot. This funding enables the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction to work with drug-checking partners across provinces and territories to develop a national, harmonized approach to collecting, analyzing and reporting drug-checking data. This pilot will test and validate comparable indicators, improve national consistency in reporting and support the identification of patterns and trends in the drug supply across different regions of Canada.

This work strengthens how risks related to drug supply are detected and tracked, which enables faster and more coordinated public health responses.

Mr. Chair, the investments set out in these supplementary estimates (B) support Health Canada's ongoing work to strengthen the health system and protect the health and safety of Canadians.

They are intended to strengthen the system's capacity, that is, to strengthen programs, systems and partnerships that enable efficient service delivery that is tailored to meet needs.

Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today.

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Corey Tochor]

Thank you very much.

Now we'll move on to the Public Health Agency of Canada.

[Nancy Hamzawi, President, Public Health Agency of Canada]

Thank you, Chair and honourable members, for inviting us before your committee today.

My name is Nancy Hamzawi, and I am the president of the Public Health Agency of Canada.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

On a point of order. There's no interpretation.

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Corey Tochor]

Yes, we'll sort this out.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

It's good. I can hear it again.

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

I will ask our witnesses to talk a little bit more slowly. That might help our interpreters.

Please continue.

[Nancy Hamzawi]

Thank you.

I am also accompanied by colleagues, Dr. Natasha Crowcroft, vice-president, infectious diseases and vaccination program branch; Stephen Bent, vice-president of regulatory, operations and emergency management branch; and Rod Greenough, our agency's chief financial officer.

It is an honour to be here to speak to some recent items included under supplementary estimates (B), as well as current key areas of focus within the Public Health Agency of Canada, or PHAC.

Before I touch on the items in the supplementary estimates, I would like to take a moment to recognize and thank the outstanding team of dedicated professionals I have the privilege of working with at the Public Health Agency of Canada. Every day, our agency colleagues demonstrate an unwavering commitment to public health and public service that drives our work forward to secure the health and well-being for all people in Canada.

PHAC is seeking a total of $67.5 million through the supplementary estimates (B). Highlights include funding of $47.6 million for pandemic vaccine preparedness, specifically the procurement of AS‑03 adjuvant, a critical ingredient for the pandemic influenza vaccine.

This funding will strengthen Canada’s pandemic readiness posture and security of supply, protecting the health and safety of Canadians through timely access to vaccines in the event of an influenza pandemic.

Additionally, these estimates include one funding re-profile totalling $16.9 million, which supports the strategic priorities and long-term capital planning undertaken by the National Aboriginal Head Start Association of Canada. Shifting this funding into 2025-26 is critical to ensure uninterrupted delivery of high-quality, culturally responsive early learning programming for indigenous children living off-reserve in urban and northern communities, and to support implementation of the association’s long-term capital plan.

These investments through the supplementary estimates, however, represent only a small portion of the agency’s important work.

The proposed spending will support a strong public health system that contributes to Canada’s economic and national security.

PHAC's focus is to ensure a strong defence against a wide range of public health threats.

PHAC plays an important health security role for emergency preparedness, more broadly, including to chemical, biological or nuclear incidents, or natural disasters with health consequences.

Recognizing the contribution of resilience to overall well-being, PHAC is also supporting innovative community-based intervention projects in over 200 communities.

From our world-class and highly specialized laboratory facilities to our capabilities to detect, understand and act on public health threats, the Public Health Agency of Canada collaborates closely with provinces, territories and indigenous partners to prevent, prepare for and respond in real time to public health events. While we fulfill an important federal role, we do so with strong community engagement to foster trust in public health and be responsive to the diversity of needs across the country through a health equity-driven approach grounded in the best available scientific evidence and data to guide action.

Mr. Chair, it is a privilege for my colleagues and me to appear before this committee and to respond to your questions on the work we are doing to safeguard the health of Canadians.

Thank you.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Dan Mazier]

Thank you.

We go now to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency with Mr. Ianiro for five minutes, please.

[Robert Ianiro, Vice-President, Policy and Programs Branch, Canadian Food Inspection Agency]

Mr. Chair, good morning.

My name is Robert Ianiro. I am the vice-president of the policy and programs branch at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

Mr. Chair, honourable members, thank you for the opportunity to appear with you today.

I am pleased to be here to present an overview of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's, or CFIA's, proposed spending under the 2025‑26 supplementary estimates (B).

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency, CFIA, has a vision to be a global leader in food safety, and in plant and animal health protection. By keeping Canada's food safe and protecting our animal and plant resources, the agency can also help businesses contribute to, grow and support Canada's economy. The CFIA is a science-based regulator with a dual mandate to protect and enable trade. Our primary responsibility is to safeguard Canada's food supply, and plant and animal health. At the same time, we play a vital role in enabling trade to support the economic resilience of the agriculture and agri-food sector.

At the core of the agency's work is enforcing and verifying compliance with regulations to support safe food, and animal and plant health. The agency's work essentially consists of enforcing regulations and verifying compliance with those in order to promote food safety, animal health and plant protection. The CFIA is also committed to doing its part to contribute to the government's agenda of red-tape reduction and regulatory modernization.

Budget 2025 will deliver generational and transformational investments for agriculture and agri-food stakeholders. These important investments include over $150 million for the CFIA to support the government's trade diversification strategy. This funding will modernize digital trade tools and services, including AI integration. It will also increase market access for Canadian agriculture, agri-food, fish and seafood. In addition, it will address trade barriers, improve regulatory co-operation and promote greater market entry.

To build on this important investment and further support the transformational commitments in budget 2025, we have submitted the following supplementary estimates.

The CFIA is proposing a net increase of $9.1 million, bringing our total authorities to just over $959 million. This includes $1.4 million in new funding for advancing the interprovincial and interterritorial trade of food in Canada. The supplementary estimates are also proposing net transfers to the agency of $7.7 million for activities in the areas of plant protection and market access support.

The investments outlined in the supplementary estimates (B) reflect our ongoing commitment to delivering real results for Canadians.

These investments will help the CFIA to continue its vital work in safeguarding the food we eat, protecting our plants and animals, and supporting trade and market access, all of which builds a stronger foundation for Canada for the future.

The CFIA is committed to doing its part to help to build Canada strong and support our world-class food, plant and animal producers to share their products around the globe.

Thank you again for the opportunity to appear before the committee. I'd be pleased to take your questions.