Enforcement of public health legislation

Under the Public Health Act, environmental public health professionals are designated to enforce specific regulations and standards that include—but are not limited to—regulations related to food, swimming pools, housing, and personal services.

Food safety

Environmental public health professionals support food facilities, including restaurants, food processing facilities, and food service establishments, to ensure food premises maintain a high standard of food safety and sanitation to help prevent food-borne illness. EPHPs support food safety in the following ways:

• Issuing permits or licenses and granting health approvals to facilities that offer food to the public, like restaurants, food trucks, grocery stores, daycares, and nursing homes

• Inspecting food facilities to assess the operational environment and food safety practices

• Following up on complaints and inspecting food facilities to assess food safety

• Offering food safety information and education to operators and members of the public

• Providing guidance on safe food handling practices for special events, markets, bake sales, and other functions

Drinking water safety

A safe water supply is fundamental to the health and well-being of all communities. Environmental public health professionals work with local water suppliers and operators to ensure drinking water is safe to drink. EPHPs inspect and monitor drinking water supplies for compliance with regulatory requirements, conduct water sampling, and provide the public with information on how to protect and improve their water quality. Additionally, they may issue health orders or advisories when there are health risks associated with the drinking water supply. 

Recreational water safety

Environmental public health professionals monitor and ensure the safety of recreational water, including public pools, commercial pools (for e.g., hotels, stratas), hot hubs, and spray parks. They work closely with facilities to ensure that public health and safety are protected, and they educate operators and facilitate improvements.

Care Facilities

Environmental public health professionals collaborate with partner agencies to ensure adults and children living in or using care facilities such as residential care facilities and daycares have access to safe food, shelter, and a safe and healthy environment. They conduct regular inspections of care facilities to ensure essential health, safety, and care standards are met and work closely with care providers and families to ensure quality care for individuals in licensed care facilities. 

Special events and festivals

For special events and festivals, environmental public health professionals work with event organizers and vendors to ensure the health and safety of attendees. They look at areas regulated under the Public Health Act that include but are not limited to food, personal services, potable water systems, and wastewater systems—all of which could result in the spread of communicable diseases if not properly inspected and monitored.

Communicable Disease Control

Environmental public health professionals work with health care professionals and the public to limit the spread of communicable diseases and promote infection and disease control. Their work includes:

• Providing education to operators on the prevention of communicable diseases

• Following up on communicable disease cases to mitigate the spread of disease

• Providing education to operators on infection control measures to implement in their facilities to limit spread

• Providing data to inform and advise decision-making during outbreaks

Emergency response teams

Given their diverse skill set, environmental public health professionals are often deployed in various emergency response situations. In these situations, EPHPs might be called upon for any of the following duties:

• Ensuring emergency reception centres and impacted facilities are operating in a safe manner

• Assessing that there is safe drinking water

• Assessing environmental hazards

• Conducting case and contact management 

• Educating and advising the public on the current public health recommendations (for e.g., physical distancing, masking)

• Enforcement of public health legislation

Tobacco control

Environmental public health professionals work with tobacco and vapour product retailers to ensure that their operations are in compliance with the various regulations and acts that apply to them. EPHPs use a combination of education, monitoring, and enforcement to achieve this. 

Air quality

Ambient and indoor air quality affects the health of all communities. Air quality is impacted by different pollutants, including residential wood smoke, exhaust, moulds, radon, road dust, wildfire smoke, and industry emissions. Environmental public health professionals may conduct investigations and provide recommendations and advice to the public to mitigate health risks associated with poor air quality. This may include testing and monitoring indoor air quality to ensure it meets the requirements set by various regulations and acts so that we can all breathe clean air.

Health promotion

Environmental public health professionals integrate health promotion into all aspects of their work. They work closely with other health promotion professionals and the public to promote best practices for environmental health.

Health hazard management

Environmental public health professionals collaborate with Medical Health Officers to ensure safe and healthy environments where people live, work, and play. EPHPs advise on and support the management of various health hazards that occur in our communities, including boil water advisories and flood warnings.