The minister of health () is the minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for overseeing health-focused government agencies including Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada, as well as enforcing the Canada Health Act, the law governing Canada's universal health care system.

The current minister is Marjorie Michel.

The minister is responsible for the federal government's Health Portfolio, which comprises: The president of the Privy Council was the first designated to manage the department, which was followed by the minister of immigration and colonization in 1921 under Arthur Meighen, then the minister of soldiers' civil re-establishment later that year under William Lyon Mackenzie King. The minister of soldiers' civil re-establishment managed the Department of Health through the next Meighen and King governments.

In 1928, the Department of Health and minister of soldiers' civil re-establishment were abolished and replaced with the Department and minister of pensions and national health. In 1944, the position was again split into two roles, with the war veteran portfolio going to the minister of veterans affairs, and the rest of the portfolio moving to the minister of national health and welfare.

The role of minister of national health and welfare was abolished in 1996, and replaced with the current minister of health. Jane Philpott was the first medical doctor to hold the post.

The position of associate minister of health was created on October 26, 2021, for Carolyn Bennett. Ya'ara Saks was the second and last minister of mental health and addictions. She was appointed on July 26, 2023, and concurrently served as the minister of mental health and addictions. The position was abolished on March 14, 2025, at the start of the 30th Canadian Ministry.

List of ministers

Key:

{| class="wikitable"

! No.

! Portrait

! Name

!colspan=2| Term of office

! Party

! Ministry

|-

! colspan = 5| Minister presiding over the Department of Health || colspan=2; rowspan=2 |

|-

! || colspan= 4 |<small>While President of Privy Council</small>

|-

|style="background:;|

|50px

|Newton Rowell

| 6 June 1919 || 10 July 1920

|Unionist

|10th<small> (Borden)</small>

|-

! || colspan=4 |<small>While Minister of Immigration and Colonization</small> || colspan=2 |

|-

| rowspan=2; style="background:;|

| 50px || James Alexander Calder || 10 July 1920 || 21 September 1921

| rowspan=2| National Liberal<br>& Conservative

| rowspan=2| 11 <small>(Meighen)</small>

|-

| 50px || John Wesley Edwards || 21 September 1921 || 29 December 1921

|-

! || colspan=4 |<small>While Minister of Soldiers' Civil Re-establishment</small> || colspan=2 |

|-

| rowspan=2; style="background:|

| 50px

| Henri Sévérin Béland

| 29 December 1921 || 15 April 1926

| rowspan=2| Liberal

| rowspan=2| 12 <small>(King)</small>

|-

| 50px || John Campbell Elliott || 15 April 1926 || 29 June 1926

|-

| rowspan=3; style="background:;|

| 50px || Robert James Manion (acting)|| 29 June 1926 || 13 July 1926

| rowspan=3| Conservative

| rowspan=3| 13 <small>(Meighen)</small>

|-

| 50px || Raymond Ducharme Morand (acting) || 3 July 1926 || 23 August 1926:

|-

| 50px || Eugène Paquet || 23 August 1926 || 25 September 1926

|-

| style="background:|

| 50px || James Horace King || 25 September 1926 || 11 June 1928

| Liberal || 14 <small>(King)</small>

|-

! colspan=5| Minister of Pensions and National Health || colspan=2 |

|-

| rowspan=2; style="background:;|

| || Murray MacLaren || 7 August 1930 || 17 November 1934

| rowspan=2| Conservative || rowspan=2 | 15 <small>(Bennett)</small>

|-

| || Donald Matheson Sutherland || 17 November 1934 || 23 October 1935

|-

| rowspan=2; style="background:|

| || Charles Gavan Power || 23 October 1935 || 19 September 1939

| rowspan=5| Liberal || rowspan=5| 16 <small>(King)</small>

|-

| || Ian Alistair Mackenzie || 19 September 1939 || 18 October 1944

|-

! colspan=5| Minister of National Health and Welfare

|-

| rowspan=3; style="background:|

| || Brooke Claxton || 18 October 1944 || 12 December 1946

|-

| rowspan=2| || rowspan=2 | Paul Martin Sr. || 12 December 1946 || 15 November 1948

|-

| 15 November 1948 || 21 June 1957

| Liberal || 17 <small>(St. Laurent)</small>

|-

| rowspan=2; style="background:|

| || Alfred Johnson Brooks (acting) || 21 June 1957 || 22 August 1957

| rowspan=2| Progressive<BR>Conservative || rowspan=2| 18 <small>(Diefenbaker)</small>

|-

| || Jay Monteith || 22 August 1957 || 22 April 1963

|-

| rowspan=6; style="background:|

| || Judy LaMarsh || 22 April 1963 || 18 December 1965

| rowspan=6| Liberal || rowspan=2| 19 <small>(Pearson)</small>

|-

| || rowspan=2 | Allan MacEachen || 18 December 1965 || 20 April 1968

|-

| || 20 April 1968 || 6 July 1968

| rowspan=4 | 20 <small>(PE Trudeau)</small>

|-

| || John Munro || 6 July 1968 || 27 November 1972

|-

| || Marc Lalonde || 27 November 1972 || 16 September 1977

|-

| || Monique Bégin || 16 September 1977 || 4 June 1979

|-

| style="background:|

| || David Crombie || 4 June 1979 || 3 March 1980

| Progressive<br>Conservative || 21 <small>(Clark)</small>

|-

| rowspan=2; style="background:|

| rowspan=2| || rowspan=2| Monique Bégin || 3 March 1980 || 30 June 1984

| rowspan=2| Liberal || 22 <small>(PE Trudeau)</small>

|-

| 30 June 1984 || 17 September 1984

| 23 <small>(Turner)</small>

|-

| rowspan=4; style="background:|

| || Jake Epp || 17 September 1984 || 30 January 1989

| rowspan=4 | Progressive<br>Conservative || rowspan=3| 24 <small>(Mulroney)</small>

|-

| || Perrin Beatty || 30 January 1989 || 21 April 1991

|-

| || Benoît Bouchard || 21 April 1991 || 25 June 1993

|-

| || Mary Collins || 25 June 1993 || 4 November 1993

| 25 <small>(Campbell)</small>

|-

| rowspan=2; style="background:|

| || Diane Marleau || 4 November 1993 || 24 January 1996:

| rowspan=8 | Liberal || rowspan=6 |26 <small>(Chrétien)</small>

|-

| || David Dingwall || 25 January 1996 || 11 July 1996

|-

! colspan=5| Minister of Health

|-

! style="background:; color:white"| 1

|50px

|David Dingwall

|July 12, 1996 || June 10, 1997

|-

!style="background:; color:white"| 2

|50px|| |Allan Rock|| June 11, 1997 || January 14, 2002

|-

!style="background:; color:white"| 3

|50px || |Anne McLellan || January 15, 2002 || December 11, 2003

|-

!style="background:; color:white"| 4

|50px || Pierre Pettigrew || December 12, 2003 || July 19, 2004

|rowspan=2|27 <small>(Martin)</small>

|-

!style="background:; color:white"| 5

|50px || Ujjal Dosanjh || July 20, 2004 || February 5, 2006

|-

!style="background:;"| 6

|50px ||Tony Clement ||February 6, 2006 || October 29, 2008

|rowspan=3| Conservative || rowspan=3| 28 <small>(Harper)</small>

|-

!style="background:;"| 7

|50px || Leona Aglukkaq || |October 30, 2008 || July 15, 2013

|-

!style="background:;"| 8

||50px ||Rona Ambrose || July 15, 2013 || November 4, 2015

|-

!style="background:;"| 9

||50px ||Jane Philpott ||November 4, 2015 || August 28, 2017

|rowspan=7| Liberal

|rowspan=5| 29 <small>(J. Trudeau)</small>

|-

!style="background:;"| 10

|| 50px || Ginette Petitpas Taylor || August 28, 2017 || November 20, 2019

|-

!style="background:;"| 11

|| 50px || Patty Hajdu || November 20, 2019 || October 26, 2021

|-

!style="background:;"| 12

| 50px || Jean-Yves Duclos || October 26, 2021 || July 26, 2023

|-

!style="background:;"| 13

| 50px

| Mark Holland || July 26, 2023 || March 14, 2025

|-

!style="background:;"| 14

| 50px

| Kamal Khera|| March 14, 2025 || May 13, 2025

|rowspan=2|30 <small>(M. Carney)</small>

|-

!style="background:;"| 15

|<!-- Deleted image removed: 50px -->

| Marjorie Michel|| May 13, 2025 || Incumbent

|}

Health Portfolio

The Health Portfolio is an institution of several governmental departments that supports the Minister of Health's responsibility of maintaining and improving the health of Canadians.

Along with Health Canada, the portfolio consists of: the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Patented Medicine Prices Review Board. and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

, the Health Portfolio consists of approximately 12,000 full-time equivalent employees and an annual budget of over $3.8 billion.

  • President of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency
  • Vice-President, Operations
  • Assoc. Vice-President, Operations
  • Vice-President, Science
  • Chief Veterinary Officer
  • Chief Science Operating Officer
  • Vice-President, Policy & Programs
  • Chief Food Safety Officer (Exec. Director, Food Safety & Consumer Protection Division)
  • Chief Plant Health Officer (Exec. Director, Plant Health & Biosecurity Directorate)
  • VP, Innovation, Business & Service Development
  • Chief Information Officer
  • VP, Communications & Public Affairs
  • VP, Human Resources
  • VP, Corporate Management
  • Chief Financial Officer
  • Assistant Deputy Minister, International Affairs Branch
  • Chief, Audit & Evaluation
  • Chief Redress Officer, Integrity and Redress Secretariat
  • Exec. Director, Legal Services
  • Executive Vice President
  • Chief of Staff
  • President of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research
  • Executive Vice-President
  • Assoc. VP, Research, Knowledge Translation & Ethics
  • Assoc. VP, Governance & External Relations
  • Assoc. VP, Corporate Services
  • VP, Research Programs
  • Assoc. VP, Research Programs – Strategy
  • Science Council (chaired by the President)
  • Governing Council (President is an ex officio member of all Standing Committees)
  • Chair
  • Vice Chair
  • Executive Committee
  • Governance and Nominating Committee
  • Standing Committee on Ethics
  • Standing Committee on Finance
  • CIHR Audit Committee
  • Stem Cell Oversight Committee

CIHR Institutes

  • Scientific Director, Institute of Aging
  • Scientific Director, Institute of Cancer Research
  • Scientific Director, Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health
  • Scientific Director, Institute of Gender and Health
  • Scientific Director, Institute of Genetics
  • Scientific Director, Institute of Health Services and Policy Research
  • Scientific Director, Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health
  • Scientific Director, Institute of Indigenous Peoples' Health
  • Scientific Director, Institute of Infection and Immunity
  • Scientific Director, Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis
  • Scientific Director, Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction
  • Scientific Director, Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes
  • Scientific Director, Institute of Population and Public Health
  • Chairperson
  • Members
  • Vice Chairperson
  • Executive Director
  • General Counsel
  • Director Board Secretariat
  • Director, Policy and Economic Analysis
  • Director, Regulatory Affairs and Outreach
  • Director, Corporate Services

The Public Health Agency of Canada<nowiki/>'s (PHAC) senior leadership includes the Minister of Health, Associate Minister of Health, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Chief Public Health Officer, President of PHAC, and the Executive Vice-President of PHAC.

See also

  • Health Canada
  • Healthcare in Canada
  • Associate Minister of Health
  • Minister of Mental Health and Addictions
  • Chief Public Health Officer

References

  • Public Health Agency of Canada
  • Health Canada