There are multiple views on the strengths, weaknesses, and efficacy of Canada's health care system. Below is a curated list of perspectives and insights on various topics that best illustrate the scope of debate. This information has been collected from academic, media, and industry sources from both within and outside of the country. It is not comprehensive. The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors and are not a reflection of the position of the Mailman School of Public Health or its faculty.
The articles are provided with the source first followed by the link to the article. Sources used for the policy library can be found under the Additional Resources tab.
Health Topics Inclued
COVID-19 | DISEASE & ILLNESS | FINANCING & PAYMENT SYSTEMS | GAPS & CHALLENGES | HEALTH DISPARITIES & MINORITY HEALTH | MATERNAL & CHILD HEALTH | PERSPECTIVES ON HEALTH SYSTEM
COVID-19
CNBC | How Canada is Fighting Covid-191
The New York Times | One Continent, Two Very Different Political Responses to the Pandemic2
DISEASE & ILLNESS
Public Health Agency of Canada | Heart Disease in Canada: Highlights from the Canadian Chronic Disease Surveillance System3
FINANCING & PAYMENT SYSTEMS
Canadian Institute for Health Information | Publicly Financed Health Care in Canada: Who Pays and Who Benefits Over a Lifetime?4
GAPS & CHALLENGES
Evidence Network | Five Challenges for Bending the Healthcare Cost Curve in Canada6
HEALTH DISPARITIES & MINORITY HEALTH
AIDS Patient Care and STDs | Associations Between HIV-Related Stigma, Racial Discrimination, Gender Discrimination, and Depression Among HIV-Positive African, Caribbean, and Black Women in Ontario, Canada. AIDS Patient Care and STDs8
Canadian Family Physician | Health Care for Canada's Medically Uninsured Immigrants and Refugees: Whose Problem Is It?9
Canadian Journal of Public Health | Unmet Health Needs and Discrimination by Healthcare Providers Among An Indigenous Population In Toronto, Canada10
Canadian Journal of Surgery | Indigenous Health Disparities: A Challenge and an Opportunity11
Government of Canada | Key Health Inequalities in Canada: A National Portrait - Executive Summary12
Health and Human Rights | Cultural Rights and First Nations Health Care in Canada13
International Journal of Public Health | Reducing Health Disparities Among Indigenous Populations: The Role of Collaborative Approaches to Improve Public Health Systems15
The Lancet | Challenges in Health Equity for Indigenous Peoples in Canada16
The Lancet | Country in Focus: Health Disparities in Indigenous Canadians17
The National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health | Access to Health Services as a Social Determinant of First Nations, Inuit and Métis Health18
Public Health Reviews | Creating Conditions for Canadian Aboriginal Health Equity: The Promise of Healthy Public Policy19
MATERNAL & CHILD HEALTH
CityNews | Surrogacy and IVF in Canada: What You Need to Know20
Diversity & Equality in Health and Care | Canadian Indigenous Womens Perspectives of Maternal Health and Health Care Services: A Systematic Review21
Hospital News | Alarming Statistics on the Mental, Emotional and Physical Health of Canadian Children23
Public Health Agency of Canada | Fertility Treatment Options24
PERSPECTIVES oN HEALTH SYSTEM
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation | Canada's Health Care System is Hopelessly Sclerotic25
JournalFeed | Single-Payer - Good, Bad, and Ugly of the Canadian System28
The Nation | The Problem With Canadian Health Care29
The New York Times | Why It's So Hard to Reform Canadian Health Care30
Reuters | Canadian Panel Calls for Universal Public Drug Coverage31
Reuters | Canadian Panel Calls for Universal Public Drug Coverage31
References
- Farr, C. (2020, July 13). How Canada is fighting Covid-19: Ramping up Ppe production, travel ban from the U.S. and Bonnie Henry. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/13/how-canada-is-fighting-covid-19-ppe-travel-ban-bonnie-henry.html.
- Austen, I. (2020, March 27). One Continent, Two Very Different Political Responses to the Pandemic. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/27/world/canada/Compare-us-response-coronavirus.html.
- Public Health Agency of Canada, Heart disease in Canada: Highlights from the Canadian Chronic Disease Surveillance System (2017). https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/diseases-conditions/heart-disease-canada-fact-sheet.html.
- Publicly Financed Health Care in Canada: Who Pays and Who Benefits Over a Lifetime? (2013). https://secure.cihi.ca/free_products/Lifetime_distEffects_overview_EN.pdf.
- Duong, D. (2020, January 23). Does Private Insurance Fit with Canada's Health System? Healthing.ca. https://www.healthing.ca/policy/can-private-insurance-coexist-with-canadas-health-system.
- Di Matteo, L., & Marchildon, G. (2015). Five Challenges for Bending the Healthcare Cost Curve in Canada. Evidence Network. https://evidencenetwork.ca/five-challenges-for-bending-the-healthcare-cost-curve-in-canada/.
- Martin, D., Miller, A. P., Quesnel-Vallée, A., Caron, N. R., Vissandjée, B., & Marchildon, G. P. (2018). Canada's universal health-care system: achieving its potential. The Lancet, 391(10131), 1718-1735. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(18)30181-
- Logie, C., James, L., Tharao, W., & Loutfy, M. (2013). Associations Between HIV-Related Stigma, Racial Discrimination, Gender Discrimination, and Depression Among HIV-Positive African, Caribbean, and Black Women in Ontario, Canada. AIDS Patient Care and STDs, 27(2), 114-122. https://doi.org/10.1089/apc.2012.0296.
- Caulford, P. (2012). Health care for Canada's medically uninsured immigrants and refugees Whose problem is it? Canadian Family Physician, 58(7), 725-727. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3395500/.
- Kitching, G. T., Firestone, M., Schei, B., Wolfe, S., Bourgeois, C., O'Campo, P., . Smylie, J. (2019). Unmet health needs and discrimination by healthcare providers among an Indigenous population in Toronto, Canada. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 111(1), 40-49. https://link.springer.com/article/10.17269/s41997-019-00242-z.
- Lafontaine A. (2018). Indigenous Health Disparities: A Challenge and an Opportunity. Canadian Journal of Surgery. Journal canadien de chirurgie, 61(5), 300-301. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6153098/.
- Gouvernement du Canada. (2018, November 14). Key Health Inequalities in Canada: A National Portrait - Executive Summary. Government of Canada. https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/science-research-data/key-health-inequalities-canada-national-portrait-executive-summary.html.
- Wilmot S. (2018). Cultural Rights and First Nations Health Care in Canada. Health and human rights, 20(1), 283-293. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6039741/
- Frohlich, K. L., Ross, N., & Richmond, C. (2006). Health disparities in Canada today: Some evidence and a theoretical framework. Health Policy, 79(2-3), 132-143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2005.12.010
- Wilk, P., Cooke, M., Stranges, S., & Maltby, A. (2017). Reducing Health Disparities Among Indigenous Populations: The Role of Collaborative Approaches to Improve Public Health Systems. International Journal of Public Health, 63(1), 1-2. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00038-017-1028-8.
- Greenwood, M., Leeuw, S. D., & Lindsay, N. (2018). Challenges in Health Equity for Indigenous Peoples in Canada. The Lancet, 391(10131), 1645-1648. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(18)30177-6.
- Pirisi, A. (2015). Country in Focus: Health Disparities in Indigenous Canadians. The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, 3(5). https://doi.org/10.1016/s2213-8587(15)00080-7.
- The National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health. Access to Health Services as a Social Determinant of First Nations, Inuit and Métis Health. https://www.nccih.ca/docs/determinants/FS-AccessHealthServicesSDOH-2019-EN.pdf.
- Richmond, C. A. M., & Cook, C. (2016). Creating Conditions for Canadian Aboriginal Health Equity: The Promise of Healthy Public Policy. Public Health Reviews, 37(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40985-016-0016-5.
- Burman, D. (2019, January 9). Surrogacy and Ivf in Canada: What You Need to Know. CityNews. https://toronto.citynews.ca/2019/01/09/surrogacy-and-ivf-in-canada-what-you-need-to-know/.
- Sharma, S., Kolahdooz, F., Launier, K., Nader, F., Yi, K. J., Baker, P., . Vallianatos, H. (2016). Canadian Indigenous Womens Perspectives of Maternal Health and Health Care Services: A Systematic Review. Diversity & Equality in Health and Care, 13(5). https://doi.org/10.21767/2049-5471.100073
- Scotti, M. (2016, November 15). Paying to treat infertility: Coverage varies widely across Canada. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/3059988/paying-to-treat-infertility-coverage-varies-widely-across-canada/.
- Metcalfe, A. Alarming statistics on the mental, emotional and physical health of Canadian children. Hospital News. https://hospitalnews.com/alarming-statistics-on-the-mental-emotional-and-physical-health-of-canadian-children/.
- Public Health Agency of Canada, Fertility Treatment Options (2013). https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/fertility/fertility-treatment-options.html.
- Macdonald, N. (2019, June 12). Canada's Health Care System is Hopelessly Sclerotic. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/health-care-1.5170948.
- Morabito, C. (2019, July 3). How Canadian Health Care Compares to America's System. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/03/medicare-for-all-how-universal-health-care-works-in-canada.html.
- O'Grady, K., & Roos, N. (2014, December). Five things most people get wrong about Canada's healthcare system. Evidence Network. https://evidencenetwork.ca/five-things-most-people-get-wrong-about-canadas-healthcare-system/.
- Smith, C. (2018, October 6). Single-Payer - Good, Bad, and Ugly of the Canadian System. JournalFeed. https://journalfeed.org/article-a-day/2018/single-payer-good-bad-and-ugly-of-the-canadian-system.
- Reuss, S. (2020, February 20). The Problem With Canadian Health Care. The Nation. https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/canada-pharmacare-single-payer/.
- Martin, D. (2018, March 23). Why It's So Hard to Reform Canadian Health Care. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/23/opinion/canada-health-reform.html.
- Johnson, K., & Martell, A. (2019, June 12). Canadian panel calls for universal public drug coverage. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-canada-pharmaceuticals/canadian-panel-calls-for-universal-public-drug-coverage-idUSKCN1TD20M.
- Martin, D., & Persaud, N. (2019, October 28). It's time for Canada to embrace universal pharmacare and protect drug coverage from corporate erosion. STAT. https://www.statnews.com/2019/10/28/canada-universal-pharmacare-protect-drug-prices-corporate-greed/.
- Coletta, A. (2018, February 23). Canada's health-care system is a point of national pride. But a study shows it's at risk of becoming outdated. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/02/23/canadas-health-care-system-is-a-point-of-national-pride-but-a-study-shows-it-might-be-stalled/.