The evolution of applied field epidemiology training in Canada: The last fifty years, and a vision for the future

In Canada, successive crises (e.g., severe acute respiratory syndrome [SARS] in 2003, H1N1 in 2009, COVID-19 in 2019) have not only tested the response capacity of the public health workforce, but reshaped how field epidemiologists are trained.Over five decades, federal applied epidemiology training in Canada has evolved from a small, in-person program focused on outbreak investigation to a multidisciplinary, nationally coordinated training ecosystem integrating emergency management, health equity, climate responsiveness, and technological fluency.This commentary reflects on that evolution and considers the future of the Field Epidemiology Training Program in an era of intersecting and accelerating public health needs.