Year 1 of an AI Governance Program at a Medium-Sized Local Public Health Unit

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 00:00:00 -0400

AI governance has to work within the organization that actually exists. Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health (WDGPH) is a medium-sized local public health unit in Ontario, with approximately 200 staff serving about 350,000 people. Most of our staff work in public health nursing, inspection, health promotion, and other program areas.

We began formalizing governance while staff were already experimenting with AI and several projects were moving into production. Our first year focused on making governance workable in this environment: setting strategic direction before adding rules, extending processes the organization already trusted, and using an established framework while keeping our own values and obligations at the centre.

This article is adapted from a presentation delivered on July 21st in Montreal at the 2026 AI4PH Summer Institute.

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Year 1 of an AI Governance Program at a Medium-Sized Local Public Health Unit