Canada is spending more on health care than ever. Whether Canadians are getting more care for their money is another question.
A new report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), an independent, non-profit organization that collects and analyzes data on Canada’s health-care system, projects health-care spending will reach a record $433 billion in 2026, or $10,398 per person, an increase of 4.8 per cent over last year.
For the first time since the pandemic, inflation-adjusted spending per person is expected to surpass its previous peak, reached in 2021.
But Canada already ranks among the higher-spending countries in the developed world, while patients continue to struggle with long wait times, overcrowded hospitals and difficulty finding family doctors.
That raises a central question: Is Canada spending enough on health care, or does the problem lie in how that money is being spent?
“I believe that these records of spending are just buying us more of the same right now,” said Jason Sutherland, a professor at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and director of the Centre for Health Services and Policy Research.
He argues that without substantial changes to how health care is organized and delivered, additional spending is unlikely to produce meaningful improvements for patients.
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Is $10,000 per person a lot?
The $10,398 figure represents the combined cost of publicly and privately funded health care, including hospitals, doctors, prescription drugs and services paid for through private insurance or directly by patients. It is not the amount each Canadian pays in taxes.
While the figure may seem substantial, international comparisons provide important context.
According to the CIHI report, Canada devoted 11.5 per cent of its gross domestic product to health care in 2024, compared with an OECD average of 9.3 per cent.
That placed Canada alongside other high-spending countries, including France at 11.3 per cent and Sweden at 11.2 per cent, but below Germany at 12.2 per cent and the United States at 17.2 per cent.
“We are not cheap in our health-care spending,” Sutherland said.
Sara Allin, an associate professor at the University of Toronto’s Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, agreed that Canada’s spending is substantial. But she said the more revealing comparison is what countries achieve with their investments.
She pointed to data showing Canada performs relatively well on some measures, including life expectancy and vaccination rates, but continues to lag in important areas of access and service delivery.
“We have very persistently long wait times,” Allin said. “We have persistent challenges with care co-ordination.”
She described Canada’s health system as generally a middle performer among countries with similarly high expenditures.
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More money, but where is it going?
The CIHI report identifies a potentially important change in how health-care spending is growing.
Inflation-adjusted spending per person is projected to grow 2.3 per cent this year, compared with just 0.4 per cent in 2025.
More significantly, CIHI estimates public-sector spending will increase by more than $5 billion beyond what is needed to keep pace with inflation and demographic changes.
Adam Rondeau, CIHI’s manager of health spending and operations analytics, said the increase could be an early indication that governments are investing in additional capacity, new technologies and innovations in health-care delivery.
But determining precisely where that money is going is more complicated.
“It’s difficult to say X number of dollars is net new and related to a given program of work,” Rondeau said.
He explained that the report identifies additional spending but cannot establish whether that investment is producing shorter wait times, more available services or better patient outcomes.
Meanwhile, the report states that spending on physicians is projected to increase 8.3 per cent this year, substantially faster than overall health-care spending.
Yet access to primary care remains a major challenge. CIHI’s research on primary care found that 17 per cent of Canadian adults reported having no regular health-care provider in 2023.
Sara Allin, an associate professor of health policy at the University of Toronto, says Canada spends more on health care than many comparable countries, but it continues to struggle with long wait times and access to services. (Submitted by Sara Allin)
Spending more isn’t necessarily spending better
For Allin, the challenge isn’t simply increasing health-care budgets; it’s ensuring that additional investment produces measurable improvements.
“If we’re spending this much, it’s more perhaps how we’re spending it than the level of spending at this point in terms of driving further improvements,” she said.
One important difference between Canada and some comparable countries, she said, is how health care is financed.
According to CIHI’s expenditure figures, 71.4 per cent of Canada’s health spending is projected to come from public sources in 2026, with the remaining 28.6 per cent financed privately.
Allin said several other wealthy countries fund a larger share of health care collectively, allowing them to cover a broader range of services, including prescription drugs, dental care and mental health supports.
She said those differences have consequences for both efficiency and equity.
Publicly financed systems can negotiate lower prices and reduce some administrative costs, she explained. They can also reduce financial barriers that prevent patients from accessing needed services.
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Allin said gaps in Canada’s public coverage mean people without adequate private insurance can face substantial costs for necessary services, particularly prescription drugs and mental health care.
She also questioned whether Canada’s health-care financing arrangements provide sufficient incentives to improve patient outcomes.
Rather than simply paying providers according to the volume of services delivered, Allin said governments could do more to link funding with measurable improvements in care.
Sutherland similarly argued that governments need to rethink where additional resources are directed.
He pointed to home care, assisted living, long-term care and other community-based services as areas where greater investment could help keep patients out of overcrowded hospitals and emergency departments.
Both experts also raised concerns about the pressure that rising health-care spending could place on other public priorities, including education, housing and social services.
Ultimately, Sutherland said, the figures should reassure Canadians that substantial resources are being devoted to health care while also prompting them to question whether those resources are being used effectively.
“I think they should be somewhat relieved that Canada is not underfunding this health-care system, but at the same time, they should be concerned that they’re not getting great value for their money.”
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