Dear John,

Health care in Canada is free, right?

If you've been on our email list for a while, you'll already know that the answer is no.

Even if we don’t pay directly for medical services, Canadians pay a lot for health care through a variety of taxes.

A new study published by the Fraser Institute today looks at just how much Canadians actually pay for health care.

The study estimates that a typical Canadian family consisting of two parents and two children will pay $16,950 for public health care this year, while single Canadians will pay $5,622.

The cost of health care for the average Canadian family has increased substantially over the last 25 years, and has risen more quickly than the cost of either food, clothing or shelter.

In fact, the cost of public health care for the average Canadian family increased 1.7 times faster than the average income!

Here at the Fraser Institute, we are committed to finding ways for Canada to deliver better universal health care for Canadians.

We regularly release studies that measure wait times, and that compare the performance of our health care system to those of other universal health care countries.

Can you help us continue that work?

We believe that 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 health-care system.

If you agree, please consider making a donation today so that we can bring our research to even more Canadians.

Thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,

Niels Veldhuis
President
The Fraser Institute