Exercise Canada Paratus was a landmark, pan-Canadian health security exercise designed to test Canada’s readiness to sustain care during large-scale combat operations while continuing to serve the broader population. Framed through a national health defence lens, this presentation examines the governance architecture required to manage sustained mass-casualty repatriation across federal, provincial, territorial, and military systems.
Drawing on the exercise findings, Dr. Colleen Forestier, Brigadier-General (Ret’d) and Dr. David Pedlar will focus on the central insight that Canada’s greatest vulnerability is not clinical capability, but governance clarity. Exercise Canada Paratus surfaced critical governance questions related to leadership authority, command-and-control structures, intergovernmental coordination, and data integration, while demonstrating measurable gains in cross-sector understanding and coordination.
From a defence perspective, health system resilience is strategic infrastructure. Effective governance, clear decision rights, interoperable data systems, scalable health human resources, and integrated civilian–military planning, is essential to Canada’s capacity to protect its population during sustained crisis.
This session will outline a path toward a formalized pan-Canadian health emergency governance model capable of sustaining Canada through prolonged crisis while safeguarding public trust and access to care.
View the PowerPoint Presentation (PDF 2mb)
Biographies:
Dr. Colleen Forestier is the Registrar & CEO of the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA), the regulatory body responsible for licensing and regulating physicians and physician assistants in Alberta. Dr. Forestier began her medical career as a rural family physician in southern Alberta before joining the Canadian Armed Forces in 2003. During her more than two decades of military service, she led health care teams, planned, developed and executed strategic, operational and tactical level plans in a wide variety of health fields. Her military service included operational deployments to Afghanistan and West Africa, where she led healthcare teams in complex and demanding environments. She retired as the Deputy Surgeon General in 2025. She earned her MD from the University of Western Ontario in 1996 and completed her Family Medicine residency at the University of Calgary. She holds a Certificate of Special Competence in Emergency Medicine (CCFP-EM), as well as a Master of Public Health and a Master of Public Administration. As Registrar & CEO, Dr. Forestier is committed to advancing thoughtful, profession-led regulation that acts in the public interest and supports quality healthcare for Albertans.
Dr. David Pedlar is a Senior Scientist at The University of Ottawa Institute for Mental Health Research at the Royal. He has dedicated his career to advancing evidence-based care and improving the well-being of Canadian Armed Forces members, Veterans, and their families as a researcher and leader. His published work focuses on mental health, transition to civilian life, and recovery after military service. After beginning his career in direct client care, Dr. Pedlar spent fifteen years as the National Director of Research for Veterans Affairs Canada. He later served as Scientific Director of the Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research (CIMVHR) where he helped build a national and international research network focused on military, Veteran, and family health. In 2015, Dr. Pedlar received his second Canadian Fulbright Award as visiting research chair in military social work at the University of Southern California. In 2018, he co-founded and continues to co-chair the Five Eyes Mental Health Research and Innovation Collaboration, where he advances multinational research on military and Veteran mental health. Dr. Pedlar also serves as Research Director for Superminds for Superhumans, a humanitarian mental health initiative supporting Ukrainian soldiers and civilians and their families with rehabilitation and return to civilian life following war-related amputation.
