Hospitals are the cornerstone of Canada’s health care system known as Medicare. The publicly funded single-payer program provides universal coverage for medically necessary health care services provided on the basis of need, rather than the ability to pay. Although Canada’s
was rather low.
Hospital expenditure
Hospital spending in Canada has been growing through the years and reached 62 billion Canadian dollars in the fiscal year 2021-22.
Hospital expenditure as a share of health spending in each province or territory varies greatly, with the Northwest Territories spending the highest share on hospitals, while neighboring Yukon spends the lowest. As expected,
hospital expenditure per capita was also highest in the provinces and territories with the lowest population.
Staff shortage and long wait times
There is increasing
concern in Canada over the lack of medical staff and long waiting times for treatment. The median number of weeks patients had to wait from
referral by a GP to medical treatment in Canada has increased across the country. In 2023, this wait time amounted to 57 weeks in Nova Scotia, a record high. However, there are large variations between different treatments. For example, in 2024, 94 percent of radiation therapy treatments occurred within the
national benchmark wait time of four weeks. On the other hand, only six in ten knee replacement surgeries happened within the benchmark of 182 days. Staff shortage can only worsen timely access to care and Canada is already facing a worrying
nursing shortage.
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Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date
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