Canada has fewer doctors, hospital beds, MRIs and among longest wait times than other countries with universal health care

VANCOUVER—Among a group of 31 high-income countries that have universally accessible health care, Canada has among the lowest availability of doctors, hospital beds, and most medical technologies—and some of the longest wait times, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.

“There is a clear imbalance between the high cost of Canada’s health-care system and the value Canadians receive—particularly in terms of availability of medical resources and timely access to care,” said Bacchus Barua, director of health policy studies at the Fraser Institute and co-author of Comparing Performance of Universal Health Care Countries, 2024.

The study compares 31 universal health-care systems in developed countries using over 40 indicators.

In 2022, using the latest year of comparable data and after adjusting for age, Canada ranked among the top third of health care spenders—4^th highest for spending as a share of the economy (11.5 per cent) and 9^th highest for spending per person.

Despite Canada’s high level of spending, availability and access to medical resources is generally worse than in comparable countries.

For example, Canada ranked 28^th (out of 30) for the availability of doctors, 25^th for hospital beds, and 25^th for psychiatric beds.

That same year, Canada ranked 27th (out of 31) for the number of MRI machines available per million people, and 28th for CT scanners.

Crucially, among the nine comparable universal health-care countries that measure wait times, Canada ranks 8^th (second-worst) for patients who waited more than a month to see a specialist (65.2 per cent), and the worst (9^th out of 9) for patients who waited two months or more for non-emergency surgery (58.3 per cent).

“Canadians are increasingly aware of the shortcomings of their health-care system,” said Mackenzie Moir, policy analyst and co-author of the report.

“To improve health care for Canadians, policymakers should learn from other countries around the world that do universal health care better.”

Media Contact:
Bacchus Barua, Director, Health Policy Studies, Fraser Institute
Mackenzie Moir, Policy Analyst, Health Policy Studies, Fraser Institute

To arrange media interviews or for more information, please contact:
Drue MacPherson, Fraser Institute
604-688-0221 ext 721
drue.macpherson@fraserinstitute.org

Canada has some of the worst health metrics among OECD members.... and spends ALOT.
Canada ranked 28th (of 30) for the relative availability of doctors
25th (of 30) for hospital beds dedicated to physical care.
27th (of 31) for the relative availability of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines
28th (of 31) for CT scanners
....but is a top spender.
THE SYSTEM IS BROKEN!

-Fraser Institute report