This study traces the history of Health Impact Assessment in Québec since 2001, paying critical attention to the implementation of section 54 of Québec’s Public Health Act and the mechanisms within the provincial government to foster its adoption.

The authors of the paper, France Gagnon, Clemence Dallaire and Jean Turgeon are researchers affiliated with the Groupe d’étude sur les politiques publiques et la santé – GÉPPS (Study group on public policies and health). In this paper, they set out to “examine how impacts on health and welfare are taken into account during the decision-making process, or more precisely, during the formulation and adoption of public policies” (p. 5).

This paper was originally published in French in Télescope vol. 14(2), Spring-Summer 2008. Télescope is a publication of the École nationale d’administration publique. The NCCHPP would like to thank the authors and the editors at Télescope for their collaboration in preparing this translation.

Health Impact Assessment in Québec: when the law becomes a lever for action
23 pages

L’évaluation d’impact sur la santé au Québec : lorsque la loi devient levier d’action
(on the site of the ENAP.)