On October 27, 2026, Canada's Chief Public Health Officer released The State of Public Health in Canada 2026. The annual report covers seven population-health trends, and sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections are one of them, alongside mental health, toxic drug harms, measles, cancer and wildfires. In a statement the next day, the CPHO said the report shows that "public health gains cannot be taken for granted" and that progress "is not always permanent."

Why It Matters

Asymptomatic infection and patchy testing are what this report describes, and they are also the market case for **at-home and point-of-care STI diagnostics**, telehealth testing and pharmacy-based screening. That makes a federal health officer's report effectively a demand signal for that category. The congenital-syphilis line fits this week's [Penn/USC trial showing twice-in-pregnancy STI screening cut preterm births 23%](/stories/prenatal-sti-screening-preterm-trial), and Australia's [Kirby Institute surveillance](/stories/kirby-asr-2026-sti-syphilis-gonorrhoea) shows a similar pattern. Rising gonorrhea resistance strengthens the case for new antibiotics such as [zoliflodacin](/stories/zoliflodacin-chlamydia-coinfection-idweek). For condom brands, a federal health official publicly suggesting that PrEP-era complacency is reducing condom use is unusual messaging, and they can use it.

The STI figures are the headline. As CTV News reported on October 30, infectious syphilis rates rose more than fourfold between 2014 and 2023. That growth fed a more than threefold rise in congenital syphilis between 2018 and 2023. Congenital syphilis passes from a pregnant person to the baby and can cause stillbirth and infant death. Rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea are also up. The report flags more gonorrhea cases with resistance to one or more of the drugs used to treat it. Reported cases fell in 2023, but the report says more data are needed to tell whether that dip will last.

York Region medical officer of health Dr. Fareen Karachiwalla told CTV the congenital numbers are the clearest warning: "Seeing babies born with it, which is, definitely alarming (means) we're missing something in pregnancy." She listed stigma, barriers to testing, hookup-app-era behaviour changes, and the possibility that better HIV prevention has reduced condom use for some people. She also pointed out that the pandemic-era dip probably reflected fewer people getting tested rather than fewer infections ("It's kind of catching up with the backlog"). Her main prescription is to move testing closer to communities, including rapid on-the-spot tests. The report itself calls for better data, coordinated public-health responses and easier access to prevention, testing and treatment across Canada.

Sources

Update — 2026-10-31

Initial entry — story first created.