From the Fraser Institute

By Nadeem Esmail, Nathaniel Li and Milagros Palacios

A typical Canadian family of four will pay an estimated $19,060 for public health-care insurance this year, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.

“Canadians pay a substantial amount of money for health care through a variety of taxes—even if we don’t pay directly for medical services,” said Nadeem Esmail, director of health policy studies at the Fraser Institute and co-author of The Price of Public Health Care Insurance, 2025.

Most Canadians are unaware of the true cost of health care because they never see a bill for medical services, may only be aware of partial costs collected via employer health taxes and contributions (in provinces that impose them), and because general government revenue—not a dedicated tax—funds Canada’s public health-care system.

The study estimates that a typical Canadian family consisting of two parents and two children with an average household income of $188,691 will pay $19,060 for public health care this year. Couples without dependent children will pay an estimated $17,338. Single Canadians will pay $5,703 for health care insurance, and single parents with one child will pay $5,934.

Since 1997, the first year for which data is available, the cost of healthcare for the average Canadian family has increased substantially, and has risen more quickly than its income. In fact, the cost of public health care insurance for the average Canadian family increased 2.2 times as fast as the cost of food, 1.6 times as fast as the cost of housing, and 1.6 times as fast as the average income.

“Understanding how much Canadians actually pay for health care, and how much that amount has increased over time, is an important first step for taxpayers to assess the value and performance of the health-care system, and whether it’s financially sustainable,” Esmail said.

The Price of Public Health Care Insurance, 2025

• Canadians often misunderstand the true cost of our public health care system. This occurs partly because Canadians do not incur direct expenses for their use of health care, and partly because Canadians cannot readily determine the value of their contribution to public health care insurance.
• In 2025, preliminary estimates suggest the average payment for public health care insurance ranges from $5,213 to $19,060 for six common Canadian family types, depending on the type of family.
• Between 1997 and 2025, the cost of public health care insurance for the average Canadian family increased 2.2 times as fast as the cost of food, 1.6 times as fast as the average income, and 1.6 times as fast as the cost of shelter. It also increased much more rapidly than the average cost of clothing, which has fallen in recent years.
• The 10 percent of Canadian families with the lowest incomes will pay an average of about $702 for public health care insurance in 2025. The 10 percent of Canadian families who earn an average income of $88,725 will pay an average of $8,292 for public health care insurance, and the families among the top 10 percent of income earners in Canada will pay $58,853.

This article supplied by Troy Media.

By Gabriel Giguere

Canada Post is bleeding money and losing relevance. It’s time to open it up to competition

Canada Post is broken. With billions in losses, declining relevance and taxpayer bailouts keeping it afloat, the time has come for serious reform. Germany faced the same challenge and fixed it. Canada should do the same: break the monopoly, open the market and bring the postal service into the modern era.

The numbers are staggering, and getting worse. In 2024, Canada Post posted an $841-million pre-tax deficit. This year, it’s on track to lose even more. In just the second quarter of 2025, the corporation reported a record $407-million loss—its largest ever. Internal forecasts suggest the 2025 deficit will surpass last year’s and set a new record.

That’s a growing burden on taxpayers’ backs, and all it’s buying is slower service, fewer delivery days and higher stamp prices.

Other countries have faced similar breakdowns, and found better solutions. Germany, for instance, transformed its outdated public monopoly into a competitive, efficient system. Canada could follow the same path.

At the heart of Canada’s problem is a business model stuck in the past. Canada Post holds a legal monopoly over first-class mail, meaning only it
can deliver regular letters. But that market has collapsed.

In 2006, Canadians sent a record 5.5 billion letters. Last year, fewer than two billion. Meanwhile, the parcel business is booming; but Canada Post’s market share has plunged from 62 per cent in 2019 to just 24 per cent in 2023.

Germany’s state-run Deutsche Post saw similar declines in relevance and rising inefficiencies in the late 1980s. It tried to cope by hiking stamp prices year after year. Consumers paid more while service continued to deteriorate. Recognizing the model was broken, Germany acted. The government opened parts of the postal market to competition and gradually privatized Deutsche Post, selling off shares over time. By 2008, its monopoly was gone. Today, the German government holds just 16.99 per cent of the company.

The results are striking. German consumers are served by nearly 400 companies offering full postal services, and more than 11,000 offering partial ones. Deutsche Post still leads in letter mail, but competitors keep it sharp. Adjusted for inflation, sending a letter in Germany now costs 10 per cent less than in 1989. In Canada, it costs nearly 50 per cent more. And Germany consistently ranks among Europe’s best in delivery speed.

There’s no reason Canada couldn’t achieve the same results if we’re willing to follow the same playbook. Ottawa could open up Canada Post to investment, allowing workers and Canadians to become shareholders. Postal employees with a stake in the company would be more motivated to root out inefficiencies, because they’d directly benefit from any savings.

At the same time, the government should eliminate Canada Post’s monopoly over letter mail. Letting new competitors enter would drive innovation, improve service and reduce prices. Consumers and small businesses would benefit most.

The world has changed. Canadians no longer rely on letter mail the way they once did. But they still need reliable, affordable delivery. To meet that need—and stop pouring public money into a failing structure—Canada Post must adapt. Market reform isn’t radical. It’s long overdue.

Gabriel Giguère is a senior policy analyst at the Montreal Economic Institute.

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