The release of the 2025 Core Competencies for Public Health in Canada: Release 2.0 provides a timely update to the Core Competencies for Public Health in Canada: Release 1.0, a framework that set the skills, knowledge, and attitudes considered essential for guiding public health practice, including for members of the Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors (CIPHI), that has been in place since 2008. Release 2.0 establishes new competencies in practice, education and training, and certification that will allow Environmental Public Health Professionals (EPHPs) to develop greater clarity and a stronger role in the Canadian public health system. As such, Release 2.0 can be a strategic roadmap for innovation and leadership for EPHPs.

The 2025 Core Competencies for Public Health in Canada were developed by the National Collaborating Centres for Public Health (the NCCs), following an extensive multistage engagement process to obtain feedback from the public health community, including public health practitioners, decision- and policymakers, educators, researchers, students, and health-influencing community organizations from every province and territory. This included a dedicated engagement session, held in collaboration with the National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health (NCCEH), to ensure the voices of EHPHs were heard.

This article presents findings from that engagement process about the anticipated barriers to using the core competencies and the most common themes heard during the session related to the development, implementation, and practical application of core competencies in the context of EPHPs. It also highlights suggestions offered by participants to address these issues, including the need for clear interpretation and practical applications to EPHP work; increased resources, time and funding; tailored training and development opportunities; as well as reducing various organizational, political, and cultural barriers.

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