Health care in Canada may not be as free as many Canadians think it is, a new study suggests.
Hidden health-care costs are funded through general government taxes rather than direct medical bills, so many Canadians don’t realize the actual cost, according to a report from the Fraser Institute.
“Canadians pay a substantial amount of money for public health care through a variety of taxes—even if we don’t pay directly for medical services,” Fraser Institute director of health policy studies Nadeem Esmail said in a press release.
His study found that the average cost for public health-care insurance ranges between $6,464 and $21,115 across six common family types in Canada.
At the higher end, a Canadian family of four with an average income of $202,885 will pay an estimated $21,115 for public health-care insurance this year while the 10 percent of Canadian families with the lowest incomes will pay $637 on average.
Couples without children who earn $166,324 are projected to spend $19,225 in 2026, according to the study. Single adults with an income of $61,245 will pay $6,464, and single parents with one child and an income of $86,201 will pay $6,966.
Cost Over Time
Awareness of the true financial cost of health care is important for taxpayers to determine if they are receiving value for their money, Esmail said.
“Understanding how much Canadians actually pay for health care, and how much that amount has increased over time, is an important first step for taxpayers to assess the value and performance of the government health-care system,” he said, noting that the costs have risen considerably in the past few decades.
Public health-care expenditures for average Canadian households have surged at a rate 2.3 times that of food expenses, 1.5 times that of housing costs, and 1.7 times that of average income growth between 1997 and 2026, the study said.
The cost of public health care insurance—adjusted for inflation—has increased substantially across the board for various Canadian households since 1997, the study found.
A couple without children experienced a 97 percent increase in their share of expenses—from $9,752 in 1997 to an anticipated $19,225 this year. Meanwhile, a household with two parents and two children saw costs increase by nearly 110 percent, from $10,072 to $21,115.
Single adults and single parents saw a larger increase. The increase for the average single individual was 128.9 percent—from $2,824 to $6,464. A single parent with two children, meanwhile, recorded a 131 percent increase, from $2,946 to $6,814.
The statistics examined in the study noted that a household with an average income of $47,576 in 1997 paid $9,992 for housing, $6,105 for food, $2,093 for clothes, and $3,412 for health-care insurance annually.
The costs rose across the board in all categories except clothing for an average 2026 household earning $123,757. It found that the family would pay $27,996 for shelter, $13,647 for food, and $12,924 for health care. Clothing came in at $2,743.
Overall, health-care insurance has risen nearly 279 percent over the 30-year period, while income rose 160 percent. Housing rose 180 percent and food went up 124 percent. Only clothing, at 31 percent, was below the 85 percent increase of the consumer price index (CPI).
