Canada ranks 30th out of 32 industrialized countries with universal health care on the number of doctors, despite one of highest spending levels

VANCOUVER—Despite a relatively high level of spending, Canada has significantly fewer doctors, hospital beds, medical technology like MRI machines and CT scanners compared to other high-income countries with universal health care, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.

“There’s a clear imbalance between the high cost of Canada’s health-care system and the actual care Canadians receive, policymakers should learn from other countries that provide more efficient and timely universal healthcare,” said Nadeem Esmail, director of health policy studies at the Fraser Institute and co-author of Comparing Performance of Universal Health-Care Countries, 2026.

In 2024, the latest year of available comparable data, out of 32 high-income countries with universal health care, Canada was the second highest spender (as a share of the economy, after adjusting for population age).

And yet, Canada ranked 30^th (of 32 countries) for the availability of doctors, 26^th (of 31) for the availability of hospital beds, and 28^th (of 31 countries) for the availability of MRI machines and 28^th (of 31) for CT scanners.

Other high-income countries in the OECD that have universal health care include: The United Kingdom, Australia, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, France, Korea, Japan, Germany, and New Zealand, among others.

“To improve health care for Canadians, our policymakers should learn from other countries around the world that also provide universal health care, often at lower costs to taxpayers and with significantly better access and shorter wait times,” Esmail said.

Media Contact:
Nadeem Esmail, Director, Health Policy Studies
Fraser Institute

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Erin Clemens, Fraser Institute
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