*This webinar will be offered in English, with simultaneous translation to French available through Wordly.
DATE:
Thursday, February 12, 2026, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. EST
REGISTRATION:
DESCRIPTION:
Public health systems across Canada are facing growing expectations and increasingly complex challenges, at a time when jurisdictions are modernizing how public health is organized, governed, and delivered. Strengthening capacity to meet these realities is a strategic priority, and shared competency frameworks provide a practical foundation for training, professional development, and consistent practice across roles, organizations, and jurisdictions.
Hosted by the National Collaborating Centre for Healthy Public Policy and the National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health on behalf of the National Collaborating Centres (NCCs), this webinar will highlight the NCCs’ leadership in renewing the 2.0 Core Competencies for Public Health in Canada through extensive national engagement. This updated set of competencies offers a common foundation for effective, responsive, and innovative public health practice today.
Building on this foundation, the webinar will feature complementary competency frameworks relevant to capacity-building across practice, organizations, and system governance:
- Public Health Communication Competency Framework designed to strengthen communication capacity and address health misinformation;
- Organizational Leadership Competencies for Public Health System Governance, identifying the leadership skills and policy levers required to guide resilient and equitable public health systems.
Through short presentations and a moderated discussion, participants will be introduced to several competency frameworks and reflect on how they can be used in education and public health practice across diverse contexts.
This webinar will be offered in English, with simultaneous translation available through Wordly.
RECORDING:
Please note that the webinar will be recorded and that the recording and the PowerPoint presentation will be available online afterwards.
SPEAKERS:
Marianne Jacques
Scientific Lead
National Collaborating Centre for Healthy Public Policy
Marianne was appointed Scientific Lead for the National Collaborating Centre for Healthy Public Policy (NCCHPP) in July 2024, (she was the acting Lead from September 2023 until June 2024). As part of her duties, she is responsible for the Centre’s scientific direction, administrative management, and for mobilizing its Advisory Board. Marianne holds a bi-disciplinary bachelor’s degree in communication studies and political science and a Master’s degree in political science with a specialization in public administration from the Université de Montréal. She joined the NCCHPP in 2007 as a Scientific Advisor and served as Coordinator from 2015 to 2023.Marianne also serves as Coordinator for the Global Network for Health in All Policies (GNHiAP) secretariat. The NCCHPP is an active member and has hosted the GNHiAP Secretariat since 2020.
Claire Betker
Scientific Lead
National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health
Claire is a registered nurse and, since March 2019, has been the NCCDH’s scientific director. Prior to coming to the NCCDH, Claire was the Executive Director of the Population and Public Health Branch with Manitoba Health, Seniors and Active Living. Her career has included roles in rural and urban public health, home health, primary health care, a regional health authority and the Public Health Agency of Canada, as well as previously serving as a senior knowledge translation specialist with the NCCDH. Claire is a past president of the Canadian Nurses Association and of the Community Health Nurses of Canada. Her PhD work focused on the capacity for public health leadership to advance health equity, a knowledge base that informs her contributions to the NCCDH, the public health field and community. Claire brings a wealth of expertise, rich networks, and a passion to translate knowledge and evidence, especially to position public health to advance health equity.
Jennifer McWhirter
Director of Health by Design Lab and
Associate Professor, Department of Population Medicine, University of Guelph, Guelph
Dr. McWhirter is a scientist, health communication expert, and professor. Her research focuses on the promotion of health and prevention of disease through effective communication, education, and policy. She is especially interested in how the mass media shares health information and how visual images influence health, including in connection to skin cancer, tanning, and beauty ideals. McWhirter’s research has been covered widely in the media, including “The Globe and Mail”, “Women’s Health Magazine”, “CBC News”, and “CTV Canada AM”.
Erica DiRuggiero
Director, Centre for Global Health and
Associate Professor, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto
Dr. Erica Di Ruggiero is Associate Professor of Global Health, Division of Social and Behavioural Health Sciences and Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health (DLSPH), University of Toronto. She is the Director of the DLSPH’s Centre for Global Health and Co-director, of the WHO Collaborating Centre on Health Promotion. Her research focuses on evaluating the role of different governance approaches and models in public health systems. She studies the impacts of population health interventions (policies, programs) on social, gender and health inequities. Her research also examines how evidence affects global policy agendas related to employment, other determinants of health and health equity in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals. She was the inaugural Deputy Scientific Director with the CIHR-Institute of Population and Public Health. She holds a PhD in public health sciences from the University of Toronto.