Eileen de Villa

De Villa is the daughter of cardiologist Dr. Maria Antonina "Nenette" de Villa and obstetrician/gynecologist Dr. Guillermo "Jun" de Villa. She was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and briefly lived in the Philippines between 1972 and 1975 before her family fled to Canada.[1] Her parents were both influential in the Filipino community in Toronto, laying the groundwork for what is now the Filipino Centre Toronto.[2]

She attended Havergal College then McGill University, where she received her Bachelor of Science degree in psychology and women's studies in 1991.[3] When she graduated, she became an intern at the United Nations, moving to Vienna to work with the UN Industrial Development Organization supporting developing countries.[1] Through that experience, she became interested in international health.[2]

She then received her Master of Health Science degree in health promotion at the University of Toronto and continued securing internships through the United Nations, including one with the International Conference on Population and Development.[1]

De Villa then decided to go to medical school, receiving her medical degree from the University of Toronto in 1998. She completed her residency in public health and preventive medicine. She later received a Master of Business Administration from the Schulich School of Business at York University.

In 2004, de Villa began her almost thirteen year tenure at the Regional Municipality of Peel Office of Health, where she ultimately became the medical officer of health, serving from October 2015 to March 2017. There, she worked on a number of public health issues, including vaccination and prevention of communicable diseases, such as sexually transmitted infections and tuberculosis.[1] She also oversaw the region's air quality and food and water safety.[1]

On March 27, 2017, de Vila began her term as the medical officer of health at Toronto Public Health after the retirement of David McKeown.[4] She was appointed for her evidence-based approach to public health.[5] In this role, she has worked to combat the opioid epidemic in Toronto, advocating for a series of policies to expand public health services. Her recommended policies include the creation of a safer drug supply to reduce the need to buy drugs off the street, better support for under-served populations, and decriminalizing drugs.[6] In 2019, she has pushed back against budget cuts proposed by the Progressive Conservative provincial government under Premier Doug Ford, which would limit Toronto's resources for fighting the opioid crisis and other public health programs.[5] She has also criticized the administration for defunding supervised injection sites, which have reversed a significant number of overdoses since opening.

Under her leadership, Toronto Public Health has worked to combat misinformation around vaccine safety and has advocated for advertisers and social media platforms to clamp down on misleading anti-vaccination information.[7] She was also behind the call to ban vaccine exemptions because of religious or philosophical beliefs, though the government would still allow medical exemptions.[7][8] Toronto has seen a steady rise of such exemptions and are working to proactively prevent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases.

Since Toronto saw its first case of COVID-19, the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, on January 25, 2020, de Villa has been leading the city's response to the emerging pandemic.[9] Her office issued a number of recommendations to the mayor of Toronto, John Tory, to lock the city down as much as possible, advocating that measures stay in place for 12 weeks from April 1, 2020.[10] Tory has also set a fine of $1,000 for those convicted of violating social distancing guidelines of maintaining a distance of 2 meters or more.[11] De Villa has also used her authority under the Health Protection and Promotion Act to order all individuals with COVID-19—as well as those who have been in contact with confirmed cases—to remain home for 14 days.[12]

De Villa sits on the McGill Women, Leadership & Philanthropy Board, working to increase the representation of women in positions of leadership, governance, and philanthropy.[3]

• Distinguished Leader Award, McGill Toronto Excellence Awards, 2019[3]
• Naimark Award, Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement, 2013