Natalie Aubin of Sudbury has been named as the inaugural chief executive officer of Ontario's new French Language Health Planning Centre (FLHPC) in Ottawa.
The appointment by the board of directors will become effective Nov. 3. Described in a news release as “a proud Franco-Ontarian” who was born in Elliot Lake and raised in Sudbury, Aubin brings to the job 20 years of experience in acute care, public health, social services and post-secondary education, including 17 years in leadership roles, said the FLHPC news release.
Although the planning centre is based in Ottawa, Aubin will fulfill her role from Sudbury, which the release said is a reflection of the planning centre’s commitment to “a decentralized model of leadership and community engagement,” said the release.
“I am honoured to serve Francophone communities across Ontario in this new role,” Aubin said in the release. “The centre represents a bold step forward in ensuring equitable access to high-quality health services in French. I look forward to working with our partners to build a more inclusive and responsive health system."
The new health centre announced by the Government of Ontario in June 2025 became operational on Sept. 1, said the release. FLHPC is mandated to modernize and improve health-care services and outcomes for Francophones in the province by providing oversight of planning, policies, programs, funding and resource decisions.
Co-created by the Assemblée de la Francophonie de l’Ontario (AFO) and Hôpital Montfort, the FLHPC is governed by an independent board and has 31 employees located in each of the six regions of Ontario Health.
With this appointment, Aubin also joins the senior leadership Team at Hôpital Montfort, Ontario’s Francophone academic hospital, as vice-president.
Aubin currently serves as regional vice-president, cancer care for northeastern Ontario at Ontario Health, vice-president, social accountability at Health Sciences North (HSN) and advisor at the HSN Research Institute in Sudbury, where she leads a team of more than 1,000 professionals and oversees a $125-million portfolio, said the release.
Aubin previously served for 10 years as administrative director of the cancer centre, and then of the mental health and addictions programs at HSN, prior to her appointment as vice-president in 2022.