Renewal of the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care: What We Heard

Executive summary

This What We Heard report summarizes feedback gathered by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) through public and targeted consultations conducted in Fall 2025 to inform the renewal of the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care (Task Force). The consultations sought input on a draft implementation plan, based on the 12 recommendations from the Spring 2025 final report of the External Expert Review titled, Modernizing Preventive Health Care Guideline Development in Canada: A Way Forward, which focuses on renewing and strengthening the development of preventive health guidelines in Canada. Specifically, ideas and inputs were sought related to the proposed mandate of the renewed Task Force, opportunities for interest holder engagement, and gaps and areas for improvement. PHAC engaged a broad range of participants, including members of the public, academics, health professionals, patient groups, and provincial and territorial (PT) representatives. In total, 80 responses were received across public questionnaires, targeted outreach, and written submissions, reflecting strong interest in shaping the future direction of preventive health guidelines.

There was broad support for the proposed mandate. However, many participants also identified missing elements, with specific feedback pointing to a need for clearer mandate language, an expanded scope, integration of cultural safety, and strengthened collaboration.

Feedback from respondents included calls for:

• Expansion of the mandate to include public health and community settings, broader preventive health services addressing social determinants of health, culturally safe and trauma-informed approaches, and the realities of rural, remote, and northern regions;
• Transparent and independent governance, clear accountability and resourcing, and evidence-informed decisions free from political pressures and lobbying;
• Improved coordination with guideline developers and defined processes for adopting or adapting guidance;
• Adopting living guideline approaches to keep pace with evolving evidence, along with the need for clear operational processes and adaptable tools for diverse settings;
• Transparent, practical, and proportionate conflict of interest (COI) processes, including clear operationalization of COI standards, strategies to address specialist bias, and safeguards that avoid excluding qualified experts or under-represented patient and public voices;
• Diverse and scientifically independent Task Force, with inclusive membership across key expertise areas, reduced barriers to participation, and dedicated resourcing to sustain expanded diversity and competencies;
• Clear and practical structures for subject matter expert (SME) engagement, transparent decision-making roles, respect for dissenting perspectives, and inclusion of diverse clinical and population health expertise;
• Meaningful patient and public engagement through accessible recruitment, clear roles, appropriate compensation, and mechanisms to avoid tokenism;
• Equity-focused criteria for topic selection, with recognition that this should not preclude selection of high-impact, population-wide topics (e.g., cancer screening); and,
• Sustainable resourcing, practical implementation supports (e.g., training and evaluation frameworks), and transparent reporting practices.

This feedback, in addition to advice received from the Implementation Advisory Panel, will shape PHAC's efforts to support a renewed Task Force that delivers clear, evidence based, and equitable preventive health service guidelines.

For a copy of the full report, please contact: nacphs-secretariat-ccnsps@phac-aspc.gc.ca