The Current Canada’s new top Doctor
Mar 16, 2026
Dr. Joss Reimer, a physician and public-health leader who led Manitoba’s COVID-19 vaccine effort and served as CMA president. She discusses moving to a national role, grounding policy in rural and frontline experience, rebuilding trust after the pandemic, addressing misinformation and vaccine conversations with empathy, and strengthening prevention and community-tailored public-health approaches.
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Community Health As Central Public Health Purpose
- Dr. Joss Reimer prioritizes improving community health as the core purpose guiding national public health work.
- She intends to apply provincial vaccine-task-force experience and CMA leadership to shape policy from prevention to health promotion across Canada.
Interview Interrupted By Labor Ward Page
- Dr. Joss Reimer took the interview while on labor and delivery duty, illustrating her frontline clinician role.
- An overhead page for a delivery interrupted the conversation, showing she still practices obstetrics in Winnipeg.
Canada's Health System Is Under Strain
- Reimer warns Canada's health system faces access problems: shortages in primary care, emergency care, and hospital capacity.
- She links these strains to aging populations, COVID-era burnout, and workforce pressures across provinces.