Dear John,

For decades, the Fraser Institute has been producing studies exposing the systemic shortcomings of our health care system.

You have heard from us that Canadians do in fact pay for their “free” universal health care – in fact we pay more than other countries with universal health care, but receive among the worst results when compared to those same countries.

But what about our mental health care system?

One of our recent studies found that Canada has a relatively poor record on mental health services.

Similar to our wider health care system, Canada spends more than most other comparable countries, but gets less.

Among 28 countries with universally accessible health care, Canada ranked 22nd, with relatively fewer psychiatric beds, psychiatrists, and psychologists.

What does this mean for Canadians?

• Lack of access to appropriate treatments.
• Low rates of post-hospitalization follow up.
• Poor access to care in rural areas
• Shortcomings with general practitioner physician preparedness for dealing with mental health conditions and mental illness.

And, wait times to access mental health services have grown from 18.3 weeks in 2003-05 to nearly 25 weeks in 2020-22.

John, making better use of limited resources and focusing on improving availability is essential to address this gap.

Thanks to the work we have done here at the Fraser Institute, we have seen some progress in our health care system. But we clearly have more work to do!

To publish studies like this one and bring them to as many Canadians as possible, we rely entirely on supporters like you.

If you’re able to, please consider making a donation to the Fraser Institute today.

Thank you for your support!

Sincerely,

Niels Veldhuis
President
The Fraser Institute