Executive Vice-President of the Public Health Agency of Canada

Executive Vice-President Nancy Hamzawi's biography

Nancy Hamzawi joined the Public Health Agency of Canada in February 2023 as the Executive Vice-President. Prior to this position, Ms. Hamzawi served as the Assistant Deputy Minister (ADM) of Health Canada's Health Products and Food Branch, which plays a vital role in protecting and promoting the health and safety of all Canadians by excelling as a trusted scientific and regulatory authority for health products and food in Canada and internationally. Ms. Hamzawi also assumed the role of acting Federal Lead and ADM of Policy and Strategic Integration of the COVID-19 Testing, Contact Tracing and Data Strategy Secretariat at Health Canada.

Before joining the Health Portfolio, from 2018 to 2020, Ms. Hamzawi served as ADM of Environment and Climate Change Canada's Science and Technology Branch, working to ensure the department is a national and world leader in advancing, connecting and applying scientific understanding of the environment to anticipate and address the most pressing environmental issues, most notably climate change, plastic pollution, and biodiversity conservation. Ms. Hamzawi has also held several executive leadership positions in international affairs, regulatory programs and policy, and audit and evaluation.

Ms. Hamzawi holds a Master's Degree in Chemical Engineering and Bachelor's Degrees in Chemical Engineering and Biochemistry from the University of Ottawa.