Health Canada

Toronto's bid to decriminalize the possession of illegal drugs for personal use has been plunged into uncertainty in recent days, as drug policy experts suggest political debates over British Columbia's backtracking on the issue have hurt the city's application.

Advocates for drug users are raising concerns about British Columbia's request for Health Canada to empower police to step in when they see illicit drug use in public spaces, saying it may be a step backward in the fight against the deadly opioid crisis.

Plans for supervised consumption sites sometimes result in a community backlash but the response in the Metro Vancouver community of Richmond, population 210,000, has been intense and protracted, lasting long after authorities said in mid-February that a proposal to explore the idea had been scrapped. 

Henk de Haan says that for five years he was blissfully unaware of the invisible danger as his children slept in the basement of their acreage home southwest of Calgary.

Health Canada has called the opioid crisis one of the most serious public health threats in recent history, and an addictions specialist says everyone can play a part in helping reduce the death toll. All it takes is access to naloxone, a life-saving medication that temporarily reverses an opioid overdose.

The BC Centre for Disease Control has detected Canada's first known case of a new COVID-19 variant that has swiftly circled the globe, in what one expert says is a reminder the virus never went away.

Canada's radon guideline is twice that of the World Health Organization, a disparity that has created a false sense of security for millions of Canadians who are unwittingly breathing in dangerous radon levels that claim lives.

There is growing concern about the harmful impact of pesticides on human health, agriculture and biodiversity, prompting calls from researchers to reduce their prevalence.

Health Canada says a Calgary medical clinic that soon plans to charge its patients a fee to gain faster access to a family doctor would be breaching medicare laws.

Health Canada and the pesticide industry are using made-up and irrelevant science to drive the bus on maximum residue limits in the wrong direction, writes food safety advocate Mary Lou McDonald.

Wildfire smoke hanging over communities across Canada in recent months has highlighted the need for better ventilation in buildings used by the public, experts say, urging the establishment of strong indoor air quality standards.

Dr. Bruce Lanphear, a health-sciences professor at Simon Fraser University, stepped down as co-chair of Health Canada's scientific advisory committee on pest control products late last month.

The co-chair of Canada's scientific advisory committee has resigned his post over concerns about a lack of transparency and scientific oversight in pesticide management.

A University of Toronto professor says residents of Hamilton, Ont., could be inhaling the chemical equivalent of one or two cigarettes per week -- at minimum -- due to elevated levels of a cancer-causing compound in the air.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has failed to persuade the House of Commons to condemn the Liberal government's approach to fighting drug addiction.