The PHSA is led by an elected core executive consisting of co-presidents, co-vice-presidents, treasurers and secretary. The executive is advised by a leadership council comprised of representatives from each program stream and the general student membership.
The PHSA represents student interests on a variety of committees and task forces at both the departmental and faculty levels, as well as serving as an information conduit regarding student-related issues. In addition to those responsibilities, the PHSA also liaises with the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation Graduate Student Union (IHPME-GSU) to organize events and help foster connections between public health and IHPME students.
The PHSA holds three seats on the University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union (GSU) Council representing the needs of public health science students within the larger graduate student community at the U of T. Funding for the PHSA comes from a portion of the fees collected by the GSU based on the number of enrolled students in the department. Also, the PHSA serves as an information source for GSU activities and programs.