In the absence of an effective treatment or vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 at the beginning of the pandemic, the Canadian federal and provincial/territorial (P/T) governments issued public health measures to mitigate the risk of transmission. As such, Polisena et al. conducted a scoping review to compare pandemic preparedness strategies provided by the federal and P/T governments in Canada and assess whether any of the COVID-19 public health measures were specific to priority populations, as defined by relevant social determinants of health. The study results indicated that the availability of the evolving evidence, geographical location of the jurisdiction, and the goal to modify human behaviours outside an individual’s personal environment influenced the implementation of the public health measures. Some of the measures were also reflective of new evidence on preventive measures emerging in the earlier phase of the pandemic – as highlighted by the direction on mask use. Although almost 30% of all the public health measures issued were tailored towards priority groups, none targeted sex and gender or social capital and networks. Of note, several public health measures implemented would have resulted in unintended consequences for these populations, such as deterioration in mental health. While the role of social inequalities in the COVID-19 pandemic would benefit from further clarification, future public health measures should adopt an equity-lens as data continue to be collected that target the needs of priority populations.