How much is spent on health care in Canada?
Health care is one of the most significant expenditures in Canada, accounting for 12% of the national GDP in 2022. Health care spending encompasses everything from prescription drugs and hospitals to doctors and physiotherapy. Spending on health care in Canada can be split into three main buckets: public health care; publicly funded, privately delivered; and private health care. Based on the most recent available data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), total health care spending in Canada in 2022 reached $336 billion, with governments paying 71.5% of all health care expenses and the rest covered by patients out-of-pocket through private health insurance or other sources. On a per capita basis, that works out to about $8,645 per person, with governments spending $6,189 per capita and Canadians paying on average $2,456 out-of-pocket for private health care services not covered by their provincial or territorial health insurance plans.
Canada provides universal health coverage for all residents, but not every health service is publicly funded. According to the Canada Health Act, provinces and territories must cover necessary hospital and doctor services, as well as dental services provided in hospitals. However, the Act does not define "medically necessary,” leaving each province and territory to decide what services they will insure.
More health care services are delivered privately than most people may think. For example, family doctors are often set up as private contractors and bill the provincial or territorial health care insurance plan for their services. Hospitals are usually private foundations, and many hospital services, such as lab work and cleaning, are done privately. Lastly, provinces and territories often contract out services to privately owned and operated service providers under their respective health insurance plans like radiological tests — think x-rays and ultrasounds — or lab work — think blood tests, urine tests, etc. Other health care services such as mental health counselling, physiotherapy, dental care, and routine eye check-ups are delivered by private service providers and paid out-of-pocket by individuals directly or through private health care insurance.
CIHI has been collecting data from federal, provincial, and territorial governments to track health care spending nationally and by specific jurisdictions and to assess quality of care and health outcomes. National spending on health care has increased by 2,659%, or by around $324 million, since 1975, while spending per capita rose by 1,500% or by $8,118 per person (unadjusted for inflation). The proportion of government spending has ranged between 69% and 76% of total health care spending. It peaked at 76% in 1982 before declining to around 70% in 1998, where it has remained.
What are the major areas of health care spending?
In 2022, hospital care, physician services, and drugs made up more than half of total health care spending. At the top of the list was spending on hospitals, which reached $85 billion, making up 25% of total health care spending that year. Medication (prescriptions and over-the-counter) accounted for 13.8%, and physician services made up 13.1% of total health care spending.
About Sources
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The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) collects and analyzes information on health and health care in Canada and makes it publicly available. Canada's federal, provincial and territorial governments created CIHI in 1996 as a not-for-profit, independent organization dedicated to forging a common approach to Canadian health information.
Agency URL:
https://www.cihi.ca/Sources:
Canadian Institute for Health Information. National Health Expenditure Trends, 2024: Data Tables — Open Data. Ottawa, ON: CIHI; 2024.
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