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Dr. Robert Strang will retire at the end of 2026, bringing an end to his tenure as Nova Scotia’s chief medical officer of health.
The department of health and wellness announced Thursday that Strang will retire in December. Strang has worked within Nova Scotia’s healthcare system since 1999 and has been in his current role since 2007, serving under five premiers.
Strang was unavailable for comment on the announcement.
In a news release, Premier Tim Houston praised Strang’s work on behalf of Nova Scotians.
“Throughout his nearly three decades in the public service, Nova Scotians have experienced Dr. Strang’s caring, compassion and sense of community – and his unwavering commitment to protecting the public’s health,” said the premier.
Across nearly three decades, Strang presided over the provincial response to numerous outbreaks and public health emergencies, from an increase in mumps cases in 2007 to the H1N1 pandemic in 2009 to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
“I’m sure I speak for many when I say we greatly appreciate everything he’s done, especially his guidance and leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic, and I thank him for his outstanding service,” added Houston.
COVID-19
As the province’s top doctor during the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Strang helped guide its response to the outbreak and quickly became a household name.
Sitting beside each other week after week at COVID-19 press conferences, Strang and then premier Stephen MacNeil updated Nova Scotians on the status of the pandemic, the latest lockdown procedures and information on vaccine rollout.
Strang watched on as MacNeil coined the soon-to-be viral command “stay the blazes home.”
WATCH | How ‘stay the blazes home’ caught on in Nova Scotia:
As the pandemic, and his work combatting it, continued in December 2020, Dr. Strang was awarded the Lieutenant-Governor’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration.
In 2024, however, Strang detailed the harassment that he and his family faced during the pandemic that included protesters parking outside his house and calling his phone continuously.
WATCH | N.S. chief medical officer speak about harassment of his family:
Jeremy MacKenzie and Morgan Guptill were charged in 2022 with criminal harassment, mischief, making harassing phone calls and intimidation of a health professional.
The charges were thrown out in 2024 after a provincial court ruled that the time between arrest and trial violated the right to go to trial within 18 months of their arrest. Strang said at the time he worried harassment of this type would dissuade others from pursuing a career in public health.
Strang’s work for the province continued after the pandemic, most recently urging Nova Scotians to get vaccinated against measles as cases surged in Western Canada.
As Strang nears retirement, the Department of Health and Wellness says the search for his replacement will begin soon.
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