Healthcare Costs Soar as Canada's Affordability Crisis Deepens
Canada's affordability crisis has been fueled by rising costs of food and shelter, but a lesser-known factor is the soaring cost of healthcare. According to Statistics Canada data, health-care prices have increased almost as much as overall inflation since June 2022, with a 15% rise compared to an 11% increase in all-items CPI.
Experts say that this growth may continue, especially given the aging population and fiscal restraint by provincial governments. Andrew Longhurst, a senior researcher at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), noted that nothing is stopping healthcare costs from increasing further.
The prices of health-care services have consistently tracked above overall inflation since before the COVID-19 pandemic, with year-over-year inflation in health-care services exceeding overall inflation 85% of the time. This trend is partly due to skilled labor costs, which are difficult to extract efficiency gains or productivity from.