Since the 2002 adoption of the Québec Public Health Act’s section 54, Québec government bodies proposing laws or regulations must first go through a health impact assessment (HIA) process.

This paper provides a brief review of section 54. It describes the context of its adoption as law, the procedures introduced by the Québec government to help in its implementation, and some of the results achieved to date.

Specifically, the paper addresses the following questions:

  1. How did health impact assessment come to be adopted in Québec?
    • Its history
    • Its formulation
  2. How has the measure been implemented? What are the roles of the:
    • Ministère de Santé et des Services sociaux (MSSS)
    • Government ministries and agencies
    • Institut national de santé publique (INSPQ)
  3. What results have been achieved in the past five years?

The NCCHPP originally published this document in 2008. This revised and updated version was published in August 2012.

Implementation of Section 54 of Québec’s Public Health Act
9 pages