Health-care costs rising for Canadian families

It’s no secret that the cost of living has gotten more expensive. Groceries, gasoline, housing and just about everything else seems to cost more now than it did only a few years ago. Another of those costs is our “free” health-care system, which has never been free and has also grown significantly more expensive over time.

The cost of Canada’s health-care system is bundled in with everything else governments do (or attempt to do), with taxpayers largely footing the bill. To help understand how much Canadian families pay for health care each year, we’ve calculated the amount they pay in taxes and the proportion of taxes used for the health-care system.

In 2026, a Canadian family of four (with an average household income of $202,885) will pay an estimated $21,115 for health care, slightly less than 25 per cent of its total tax bill (which includes income taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, etc.) this year, and slightly more than 10 per cent of its household income. That number drops to $19,225 for couples without dependent children and $6,464 for single Canadians.

Again, these costs have consumed a larger share of family income over time. Specifically, between 1997 and 2026, the cost of funding health care for the average Canadian family (all types) grew 1.7 times faster than its average income, 2.3 times faster than the cost of food and 1.5 times faster than the cost of housing. And while the rising cost of housing and food have outpaced health-care cost increases in recent years, the cost of health care still grew faster than the average Canadian family’s income over the last decade.

Of course, our health-care dollars purchase important health-care services for Canadians—we do receive some value for the substantial money we spend. But it’s difficult to suggest Canadians get their money’s worth given the long waits for surgery and emergency treatment, limited access to family doctors, and dearth of advanced medical technologies that typify the Canadian health-care experience. And despite all these shortcomings, we spend more on health care than almost any other country in the developed world with universal care.

Families across Canada are struggling to make ends meet. The cost of health care, paid for through taxes, has been rising faster than average family incomes and contributes to the rising cost of living. And while costs are very visible in the checkout line and at the pump, the cost of health care remains bundled in with other government services, but it’s been growing faster than the cost of many of our basic necessities.

Absent genuine reform, Canadians will likely continue to pay a high cost for a system that consistently underperforms when compared to other countries with universal health care.