Mr. Stephen Norman received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of Guelph in 1994. He joined the federal public service in 1995 in the Pesticides Directorate of Agriculture and Agri-food Canada. Stephen worked at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency in various roles from 2001 to 2018, including as laboratory director, and overseeing national food laboratory operations and surveillance. Stephen joined the Food Directorate in January 2019 as Director of the Bureau of Chemical Safety. He was appointed Director of the Bureau of Nutritional Sciences in February 2021 where he currently oversees the management of three divisions responsible for nutrition research, regulations and standards, and premarket assessment.
As the federal leads on standard setting and policy development related to public health nutrition and the nutritional quality of the food supply, Health Canada’s Office of Nutrition Policy and Promotion and the Bureau of Nutritional Sciences will provide updates on their new and ongoing initiatives. Work is continuing to advance the Government of Canada’s priority, the Regulatory Review Roadmap and initiatives under the Healthy Eating Strategy. Some of the current activities include working with academic experts to develop surveillance tools to measure adherence to the 2019 food guide and working with partners and stakeholders to help integrate the food guide in different policies and programs and to stimulate changes in food environments. In addition, we are developing a regulatory framework for clinical trials for foods to a special dietary purpose and making changes to the Food and Drug Regulations to establish regulations for supplemented foods.