The NCCHPP has gathered together an expert Health Impact Assessment (HIA) reference group. In February, 2008 we hosted a Roundtable on HIA in the Canadian context. Some twenty people from Canada and abroad were invited to discuss, with members of the NCCHPP, the various issues and possibilities in Canada regarding the development of HIA. The participants were invited to answer two major questions:
- What lessons can we draw from Canadian and international experiences in HIA?
- What opportunities and areas of development exist for this practice in Canada?
To answer these questions, the discussions were organized around four broad themes:
- Choosing HIA to work on healthy public policy at the local level.
- International and Canadian lessons from the past.
- What we can learn from current initiatives.
- The NCCHPP and support for this approach in Canada.
Report on the Canadian Roundtable on Health Impact Assessment (HIA)
24 pages
The presentation of three Canadian initiatives currently using HIA (The PATH Project, in Nova Scotia; the City of Toronto’s Public Health Department; and Montérégie, Québec) as a frame of reference for taking action on policies at the local level also stimulated discussion and brought out several issues and needs surrounding this practice in Canada. A brief description of these three initiatives is presented in the Appendix.
This document presents the results of each discussion topic and the key points that can add new perspectives to current discussions on HIA.
