Dr. Trevor Arnason named Ottawa’s new medical officer of health

Dr. Trevor Arnason speaks to CTV News Ottawa. May 1, 2025. Arnason has been appointed as the new medical officer of health for the City of Ottawa. (Shaun Vardon/CTV News Ottawa)

Ottawa City Council has approved the appointment of Dr. Trevor Arnason as the city’s new medical officer of health.

Arnason has been serving as the interim medical officer of health since Feb. 1, after Dr. Vera Etches left Ottawa Public Health earlier this year to become the new president and CEO of CHEO. Arnason served as deputy medical officer of health in Ottawa since May 2024 and associate medical officer of health (AMOH) since 2019.

“As AMOH, he was the physician responsible for immunization programs and served as the lead medical consultant for the City of Ottawa’s COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Taskforce. He has also been the AMOH responsible for portfolios in sexually transmitted and bloodborne Infections, chronic disease and injury prevention and mental health and substance use,” Ottawa Public Health says on its website.

Prior to joining Ottawa Public Health, Arnason was the regional medical officer of health for Halifax, N.S. from 2016 to 2018.

OPH says Arnason was born and raised in Ottawa and holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Biology and a Master of Science in Epidemiology from the University of Ottawa and a Medical Doctorate from the University of Toronto.

Arnason earned a salary of $270,912 in 2024 as deputy medical officer of health. Etches, in her final year as medical officer of health, earned $325,484, according to Ontario’s Sunshine List.