From: Tingting ZhangTo: Health system observersDate: April 8, 2026 Re: Seniors’ Care in Canada: Strong Care, Limited Access Many Canadians are proud of our healthcare system, and for good reason, especially compared with the United States. But when we look beyond North America, the story changes. Canada often trails other high-income countries in overall performance, mostly due to […]
Among 10 high-income countries, Canada’s health system ranks seventh for older adults, ahead of only France, Germany, and Sweden. Most provinces, except Alberta and Ontario, perform below the international average, with New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador ranking last. The gap between Canadian provinces and top-performing jurisdictions, especially in access to care, highlights key areas for improvement. To learn more […]
Canada’s healthcare system ranks seventh for older adults among its international peers, ahead only of France, Germany, and Sweden. Canada performs above average in the care process and healthcare outcomes but ranks last in access to care, suggesting that while care delivery is often effective once patients enter the system, significant barriers remain at the […]
March 12, 2026 – While Canada performs reasonably well in the care it delivers, the system struggles to provide timely access for older adults, with most provinces performing below international averages, according to a new C.D. Howe Institute report. In “The Seniors’ Care Challenge: How Canada Performs Compared to its Peers,” author Tingting Zhang finds significant gaps in care for older Canadians. Using data from […]
From: Chris Bonnett and Douglas ClarkTo: Pharmacare watchersDate: March 9, 2026Re: The Art of the Possible: Rethinking Pharmacare On a quiet Friday afternoon last October, the federal government’s near decade-long, half-hearted flirtation with pharmacare ended in a whimper. What started with the 2018 Budget’s Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare, culminated with the […]
De la part de: Tingting Zhang A l’attention de: Observateurs économique Date: 26 fevrier, 2026 Sujet: Le projet de loi 2 du Québec : comment ne pas réformer les soins primaires L’histoire a tendance à se répéter, surtout lorsque les gouvernements refusent de tirer des leçons de leurs erreurs passées. Le récent projet de loi 2 du Québec […]
To: Quebec healthcare observers From: Tingting ZhangDate: February 26, 2026Re: Quebec’s Bill 2: How Not to Fix Primary Care History tends to repeat itself, especially when governments refuse to learn from past mistakes. Quebec’s recent Bill 2 is a case of how good intentions, heavy-handed implementation, and physician coercion create the exact opposite of what […]
To: Quebec healthcare observers From: Tingting ZhangDate: February 17, 2026Re: Quebec’s Over-Centralized Health System is a Cautionary Tale Quebec is living a primary-care paradox. It has more family physicians per capita than most provinces and in the past two decades has spent billions on healthcare reforms and built hundreds of interdisciplinary care teams. Yet today, 26 percent of Quebecers don’t […]
Published in Financial Post. Quebec is living a primary-care paradox. It has more family physicians per capita than most provinces and in the past two decades has spent billions on health-care reforms and built hundreds of interdisciplinary care teams. Yet today, 26 per cent of Quebecers don’t have a regular health care provider — more than in any province except […]
Wait times for elective surgeries across Canada have shown some improvement, with provinces such as Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Nova Scotia recording significant gains, and in some cases, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. However, in other provinces, a growing share of patients waited longer than recommended timeframes, particularly for hip replacements in Newfoundland and Labrador, knee replacements in […]
From: Katherine Fierlbeck and Rosalie WyonchTo: Healthcare observersRe: Virtual Care Is Here to Stay. Provinces Must Close the Governance Gaps Now Canada didn’t just experiment with virtual care during the pandemic, it normalized it. Patients and clinicians discovered what was always true: for a wide range of needs, seeing a provider by phone, video, or […]
Access to virtual care varies considerably across the country. In British Columbia and Newfoundland, in 2023, more than seven out of 10 people used virtual healthcare, while in Quebec and PEI, less than a third did. Provinces have developed differing regulations, billing rules, and licensing approaches for virtual care that affect population access, the balance […]
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From: Tingting ZhangTo: Health system observersDate: April 8, 2026 Re: Seniors’ Care in Canada: Strong Care, Limited Access Many Canadians are proud of our healthcare system, and for good reason, especially compared with the United States. But when we look beyond North America, the story changes. Canada often trails other high-income countries in overall performance, mostly due to […] 
Among 10 high-income countries, Canada’s health system ranks seventh for older adults, ahead of only France, Germany, and Sweden. Most provinces, except Alberta and Ontario, perform below the international average, with New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador ranking last. The gap between Canadian provinces and top-performing jurisdictions, especially in access to care, highlights key areas for improvement. To learn more […] 
Canada’s healthcare system ranks seventh for older adults among its international peers, ahead only of France, Germany, and Sweden. Canada performs above average in the care process and healthcare outcomes but ranks last in access to care, suggesting that while care delivery is often effective once patients enter the system, significant barriers remain at the […] 
From: Chris Bonnett and Douglas ClarkTo: Pharmacare watchersDate: March 9, 2026Re: The Art of the Possible: Rethinking Pharmacare On a quiet Friday afternoon last October, the federal government’s near decade-long, half-hearted flirtation with pharmacare ended in a whimper. What started with the 2018 Budget’s Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare, culminated with the […] 
De la part de: Tingting Zhang A l’attention de: Observateurs économique Date: 26 fevrier, 2026 Sujet: Le projet de loi 2 du Québec : comment ne pas réformer les soins primaires L’histoire a tendance à se répéter, surtout lorsque les gouvernements refusent de tirer des leçons de leurs erreurs passées. Le récent projet de loi 2 du Québec […] 
To: Quebec healthcare observers From: Tingting ZhangDate: February 17, 2026Re: Quebec’s Over-Centralized Health System is a Cautionary Tale Quebec is living a primary-care paradox. It has more family physicians per capita than most provinces and in the past two decades has spent billions on healthcare reforms and built hundreds of interdisciplinary care teams. Yet today, 26 percent of Quebecers don’t […] 
Published in Financial Post. Quebec is living a primary-care paradox. It has more family physicians per capita than most provinces and in the past two decades has spent billions on health-care reforms and built hundreds of interdisciplinary care teams. Yet today, 26 per cent of Quebecers don’t have a regular health care provider — more than in any province except […] 
Wait times for elective surgeries across Canada have shown some improvement, with provinces such as Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Nova Scotia recording significant gains, and in some cases, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. However, in other provinces, a growing share of patients waited longer than recommended timeframes, particularly for hip replacements in Newfoundland and Labrador, knee replacements in […] 
From: Katherine Fierlbeck and Rosalie WyonchTo: Healthcare observersRe: Virtual Care Is Here to Stay. Provinces Must Close the Governance Gaps Now Canada didn’t just experiment with virtual care during the pandemic, it normalized it. Patients and clinicians discovered what was always true: for a wide range of needs, seeing a provider by phone, video, or […] 
Access to virtual care varies considerably across the country. In British Columbia and Newfoundland, in 2023, more than seven out of 10 people used virtual healthcare, while in Quebec and PEI, less than a third did. Provinces have developed differing regulations, billing rules, and licensing approaches for virtual care that affect population access, the balance […]