Ministry of Health (British Columbia)
The Ministry of Health is a department of the Government of British Columbia which oversees the provincial health care system. It manages services including the Medical Services Plan, HealthLinkBC, PharmaCare, and the BC Vital Statistics Agency.
The majority of health services are delivered through partnerships with health authorities, physicians and other health professionals. The ministry works with five regional health authorities and one province-wide health authority, the Provincial Health Services Authority, which is responsible for specialized health services. It also supports the role of the Provincial Health Officer, whose office is housed within the ministry.
Josie Osborne is the Minister of Health, appointed on Nov. 18, 2024.
As of 2025, the Deputy Minister of Health is Cynthia Johansen. The Associate Deputy Ministers are Tiffany Ma and Diana Clarke. An earlier acting appointment of Alexandra Faye Butler as Associate Deputy Minister was rescinded in April 2025.
History
On February 21, 1946, the government announced plans to establish a separate department for health; until then, health policy had been the purview of the provincial secretary. The Department of Health and Welfare was formally established on October 1, 1946, with George Pearson as the inaugural minister.During the first term of the Gordon Campbell government, a separate Ministry of Health Planning was created but that ministry was later merged back into the main ministry. During the same period, there were also two ministers of state: one for seniors and another for mental health and addictions.
Under John Horgan, a separate Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions was established. Following the 2024 provincial election, Premier David Eby’s administration ended the stand-alone ministry and folded it back into the Ministry of Health. The 2025/26 Estimates show the "Mental Health and Addictions " vote with funds transferred to Health in November 2024.