Dear John,

Canada’s health-care system is collapsing. And more money isn’t going to fix it.

If you’ve been subscribed to our emails for a while, you’re likely familiar with all the great work our team here at the Fraser Institute does on health care.

We are committed to improving our universal health care system!

For decades now, we have been producing studies that expose the underlying, systemic issues with our current system.

Despite these objective findings, many people – including our politicians – remain adamant on preserving our current broken health-care system.

But since COVID exposed the long-running underperformance of our system, public opinion has been shifting.

A recent Ipsos poll found that less than half of Canadians are happy with our health-care system’s performance – and that 67% of Canadians believe private entities are able to provide health care services faster than publicly funded institutions.

It’s not hard to understand why.

A recent Fraser Institute study found that at the start of 2023, at least 645,000 Canadians were waiting for surgery!

Other universal health care countries – including Sweden, the UK, and the Netherlands – have been able to turn the tide on their surgical backlogs, and consistently outperform Canada on most key measures.

How?

1. These countries allow private-care providers to assume a more active role within the public system, thereby increasing available capacity and diminishing the pressure on public providers.
2. These countries have shifted away from the sort of fixed hospital budgeting system used in Canada, and towards “activity-based” funding, which ensures that money follows the patient.

Some Canadian provinces have utilized private providers to help clear the backlog, and others have historically relied on private providers to deliver select procedures.

But the federal government is already threatening the provinces with financial penalties unless these clinics refrain from charging fees for private care.

While we have made progress, clearly we have more work to do! Can you help us?

John, it’s inconceivable that a rich and advanced country like ours would have its citizens languish on waiting lists for so long.

There are important lessons to learn from these European countries, which have managed to reduce waiting times while maintaining universal access to care.

If you agree that Canadians deserve a better health-care system, please consider making a donation to the Fraser Institute today.

Our work has gotten us so far, but there is much left to be done!

Thank you so much for your continued support.

Sincerely,

Niels Veldhuis
President
The Fraser Institute