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Ontario Tech acknowledges the lands and people of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation.

We are thankful to be welcome on these lands in friendship. The lands we are situated on are covered by the Williams Treaties and are the traditional territory of the Mississaugas, a branch of the greater Anishinaabeg Nation, including Algonquin, Ojibway, Odawa and Pottawatomi. These lands remain home to many Indigenous nations and peoples.

We acknowledge this land out of respect for the Indigenous nations who have cared for Turtle Island, also called North America, from before the arrival of settler peoples until this day. Most importantly, we acknowledge that the history of these lands has been tainted by poor treatment and a lack of friendship with the First Nations who call them home.

This history is something we are all affected by because we are all treaty people in Canada. We all have a shared history to reflect on, and each of us is affected by this history in different ways. Our past defines our present, but if we move forward as friends and allies, then it does not have to define our future.

Learn more about Indigenous Education and Cultural Services

Public Health

What is Public Health?

The term 'public health' can conjure a variety of images and ideas for individuals in Canadian society and abroad. For some, it means screening for communicable diseases, mass immunization programs or legislation for healthy and safe work environments. For others, public health means the creation of governmental agencies or combating Ebola and the Zika virus. Overall, the aim of public health is to empower residents to make informed decisions and partake in interventions that seek to preserve, promote, and restore their health.

However, if a definition for public health is to be stated then it can be defined as a holistic and evidence-informed discipline that promotes, maintains, and restores the health and quality of different populations over the lifespan through health promotion, policies or legislation.

  • Bartfay W.J. & Bartfay E. (2016). Public Health in Canada 2.0. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall Hunt Publishing Company.

The Public Health specialization program provides career-oriented undergraduate programs that were developed using the 36 Core Competencies for Public Health in Canada, which is deemed essential for all public-health workers and professionals in Canada.

You will learn about:

  • determinants of health and illness
  • disease and injury prevention
  • factors that influence the delivery and use of health services
  • health protection
  • health status of populations
  • inequities in health
  • strategies for health promotion

To learn more about our faculty's programs, check out this Virtual Open House presentation on Faculty of Health Sciences BAHSc and BHSc programs.