This interdisciplinary conference will bring together experts in global and public health law, policy, history, and practice—including social scientists, public health researchers, legal scholars and policymakers at all levels of government. Attendees will engage in dialogue examining the evolution, impact, and future directions of the 1986 Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, identifying both enduring lessons and emerging challenges in our rapidly changing global context. The conference marks forty years of the Ottawa Charter, a foundational international policy framework that reframed health as a resource for everyday life.
When
Tuesday–Wednesday October 20–21, 2026
Where
Desmarais Building (DMS), Room 4101
55 Laurier Ave E
Ottawa, Canada
Zoom available upon request to attendees outside Ottawa
(same price as in person)
Languages
The majority of panels will be in English
Live translated captions in both English and French will be available for all panels
Click to Register:
Includes continental breakfast, lunch, and coffee breaks on both days
EARLY BIRD UNTIL JULY 15th
13% Ontario HST will be added
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Keynotes
Evelyne de Leeuw
School of Public Health
University of Montreal
Evelyne is a Professor of Public Health at the Université de Montréal, where she holds a Canada Excellence Research Chair in One Urban Health. She is also a professor of urban health and policy at UNSW Sydney, Australia. Her background is in public health and health promotion, cities, and health political science. She was in attendance at the eponymous conference where the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion was developed and adopted. She has been part of the European Healthy Cities movement since its launch in 1986. She was editor for the journal Health Promotion International until 2023, and is an editor of the Oxford Research Encyclopedia in Global Public Health. With Patrick Fafard (Ottawa; York) she leads the Palgrave Studies in Public Health Policy Research book series. She recently launched, with Patrick Harris, a new OUP Oxford Open Flagship journal, Infrastructure and Health. Her current innovation efforts aim at the integration of Indigenous cosmology and spirituality, One Health, and Healthy Cities. Evelyne also currently acts as Vice-President of Scientific Affairs of the International Union of Health Promotion and Education. She has published and edited eight scholarly books, over 300 peer reviewed papers and three novels.
Joss Reimer
Chief Public Health Officer of Canada
Dr. Joss Reimer is the past President of the Canadian Medical Association and Chief Medical Officer for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority. She has public health expertise in health communications, health equity, sexually transmitted and bloodborn infections and immunizations. She has contributed to numerous scientific publications and presentations in both official languages, was also the medical lead and spokesperson for Manitoba’s COVID-19 Vaccine Taskforce and spent nine years as undergraduate director of population health at the University of Manitoba. Voted Humanitarian of the Year by Doctors Manitoba, she is passionate about physician wellness and public health. She completed medical training at the University of Manitoba and McMaster University, training several years in obstetrics and gynecology before finishing a public health specialty. She completed a master’s in public health degree with a project focused on health communication in Nairobi, Kenya. Her research areas have focused on sexually transmitted infections and drug related harms with projects in Canada and Colombia.
Program Outline
All speakers are invited (no abstract submissions).
Exact speaker roster and talk titles will be listed shortly.
Day 1 – Tuesday October 20 – 8:30 am–6:00 pm
CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST & REGISTRATION
WELCOMING REMARKS
OPENING KEYNOTE ADDRESS
The Making of the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion
Evelyne de Leeuw
Professor of Public Health, Université de Montréal
BREAK
1. CHARTER PILLAR #1: BUILDING HEALTHY PUBLIC POLICY
Universal Health Coverage
Global Health Security
Regulating Harmful Products
Research, Innovation, and Access to Medicines
LUNCH
2. CHARTER PILLAR #2: CREATING SUPPORTIVE ENVIRONMENTS
Environmental Health
Planetary Health
Antimicrobial Resistance
Social Determinants of Health
BREAK
3. CHARTER PILLAR #3: STRENGTHENING COMMUNITY ACTION
Equity in Health Promotion
Human Rights in Health Promotion
Mobilizing Civil Society for Health Promotion
Indigenous Health Sovereignty
POSTER SESSION / RECEPTION
Day 2 – Wednesday October 21 – 8:30 am–4:30 pm
CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST & REGISTRATION
4. CHARTER PILLAR #4: PERSONAL AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Evidence-Based Medicine/Implentation Science
Misinformation/Disinformation
AI and Health Promotion
Aging
BREAK
5. CHARTER PILLAR #5: BREAKING SILOS IN HEALTH MANDATES
One Health
Health, Migration and Rights
Health in All Policies
Health Promotion and the Sustainable Development Goals
LUNCH
6. AFTER THE OTTAWA CHARTER: IMPACT, CRITIQUE, AND EVOLUTION
Geopolitical Determinants of Health
Beyond Eurocentrism in Health Promotion
Critical Perspectives
Continuing Canadian Leadership in Health Promotion
BREAK
CLOSING KEYNOTE ADDRESS
The Ottawa Charter at 40: Canada’s Legacy and Future
Joss Reimer
Chief Public Health Officer of Canada
CLOSING REMARKS
