For Our Health – as Canada’s leading public health infectious disease laboratory, the National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) is responsible for the identification, control and prevention of infectious diseases.

The NML is located at the Canadian Science Centre for Human and Animal Health in Winnipeg, the first facility in the world to have high containment laboratories for human and animal health in one building. It is recognized as a leader in an elite group of centres around the world, equipped with laboratories ranging from biosafety level 2 to level 4 designed to accommodate the most basic to the most deadly infectious organisms.

The NML is Canada’s main infectious disease public health laboratory with responsibility for reference microbiology and quality assurance, laboratory surveillance for infectious diseases, emergency outbreak preparedness and response, training, and research and development.

The information contained in this website is intended to provide reference information for public health professionals and the general public on the various programs and activities undertaken by the Public Health Agency of Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory.