Heather Dodson
Manager, Policy and Covid Response, Health Product Inspection and Licensing Health Canada
As the Policy Manager within the Health Product Licensing and Inspection Division at Health Canada, Heather is responsible for challenging and improving the approaches used in the regulatory oversight of health products in Canada.
Starting her career in strategic communications, Heather supported senior government officials and Members of Parliament in delivering public health and safety information to Canadians. Over the last 18 years in public service, Heather has found a passion in solving complex public policy and regulatory problems to address issues that directly affect the lives of Canadians.
During the pandemic, Heather contributed to the COVID-19 response efforts for the Health Portfolio. At the beginning of the pandemic, Heather was responsible for leading the development of various emergency regulatory orders, in addition to managing requests from industry for regulatory flexibility. More recently, her attention has turned to modernizing the drug compliance and enforcement frameworks and building upon the lessons learned from the pandemic.
Heather currently lives in Ottawa, Canada, raising two children alongside her husband. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, camping, and travelling.