Connect with us

Business

Switzerland has nearly 65% more doctors and much shorter wait times than Canada, despite spending roughly same amount on health care

Published

4 minute read

From the Fraser Institute

By Yanick Labrie

Switzerland’s universal health-care system delivers significantly better results than Canada’s in terms of wait times, access to health professionals like doctors and nurses, and patient satisfaction finds a new study published by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian policy think-tank.

“Despite its massive price tag, Canada’s health-care system lags behind many other countries with universal health care,” said Yanick Labrie, senior fellow at the Fraser Institute and author of Building Responsive and Adaptive Health-Care Systems in Canada: Lessons from Switzerland.

The study highlights how Switzerland’s universal health-care system consistently outperforms Canada on most metrics tracked by the OECD.

In 2022, the latest year of available data, despite Canada (11.5 per cent of GDP) and Switzerland (11.9 per cent) spending close to the same amount on health care, Switzerland had 4.6 doctors per thousand people compared to 2.8 in Canada. In other words, Switzerland had 64.3 per cent more doctors than Canada (on a per-thousand people basis).

Switzerland also had 4.4 hospital beds per thousand people compared to 2.5 for Canada—Switzerland (8th) outranked Canada (36th) on this metric out of 38 OECD countries with universal health care.

Likewise, 85.3 per cent of Swiss people surveyed by the CWF (Commonwealth Fund) reported being able to obtain a consultation with a specialist within 2 months. By comparison, only 48.3 per cent of Canadians experienced a similar wait time. Beyond medical resources and workforce, patient satisfaction diverges sharply between the two countries, as 94 per cent of Swiss patients report being satisfied with their health-care system compared to just 56 per cent in Canada.

“Switzerland shows that a universal health care system can reconcile efficiency and equity – all while being more accessible and responsive to patients’ needs and preferences,” Labrie said.

“Policymakers in Canada who hope to improve Canada’s broken health-care system should look to more successful universal health-care countries like Switzerland.”

Building Responsive and Adaptive Health Care Systems in Canada: Lessons from Switzerland

  • Canada’s health-care system is increasingly unable to meet patient needs, with wait times reaching record lengths—over 30 weeks for planned care in 2024—despite significantly rising public spending and growing dissatisfaction among patients and providers nationwide.
  • Swiss health care outperforms Canada in nearly all OECD performance indicators: more doctors and nurses per capita, better access to care, shorter wait times, lower unmet needs, and higher patient satisfaction (94% vs. Canada’s 56%).
  • Switzerland ensures universal coverage through 44 competing private, not-for-profit insurers. Citizens are required to enroll but have the freedom to choose insurers and tailor coverage to their needs and preferences, promoting both access and autonomy.
  • Swiss basic insurance coverage is broader than Canada’s, including outpatient care, mental health, prescribed medications, home care, and long-term care—with modest, capped cost-sharing, and exemptions for vulnerable groups, including children, low-income individuals, and the chronically ill.
  • Patient cost participation (deductibles/co-payments) exists, but the system includes robust financial protection: 27.5% of the population receives direct subsidies, ensuring affordability and equity.
  • Risk equalization mechanisms prevent risk selection and guarantee insurer fairness, promoting solidarity across demographic and health groups.
  • Decentralized governance enhances responsiveness; cantons manage service planning, ensuring care adapts to local realities and population needs.
  • Managed competition drives innovation and efficiency: over 75% of the Swiss now choose alternative models (e.g., HMOs, telemedicine, gatekeeping).
  • The Swiss model proves that a universal, pluralistic, and competitive system can reconcile efficiency, equity, access, and patient satisfaction—offering powerful insights for Canada’s stalled health reform agenda.

 

Yanick Labrie

Senior Fellow, Fraser Institute

Todayville is a digital media and technology company. We profile unique stories and events in our community. Register and promote your community event for free.

Follow Author

Banks

Canada Pension Plan becomes latest institution to drop carbon ‘net zero’ target

Published on

From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

Changes to the law require companies to more rigorously prove their environmental claims.

The investment group in charge of Canada’s governmental pension plan has ditched its “net zero” mandate, joining a growing list of major institutions doing the same.

According to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) Investments’ latest annual report, the entity is no longer committed to carbon “net-zero” by 2050. The CPP’s ditching of the target comes after a number of major institutions, including the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD), Bank of Montreal (BMO), National Bank of Canada, and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), all made similar moves in recent months.

While ditching the net-zero effort, chief executive of CPP Investments John Graham maintained that it is still “really important to incorporate climate and incorporate sustainability” in its long-term investment portfolio.

The dropping of the “climate” target comes as recent changes to Canada’s Competition Act now mandate that companies prove any environmental claims they make, with Graham insinuating these changes were a factor in the decision.

“Recent legal developments in Canada have introduced, kind of, new considerations around how net-zero commitments are interpreted, so that’s caused us to change a little bit how we talk about it, but nothing’s changed on what we’re actually doing.”

Over the past decade, left-wing activists have used “net zero” and “environmental, social & governance” (ESG) standards to encourage major Canadian and U.S. corporations to take particular stands on political and cultural issues, notably in promotion of homosexuality, transgenderism, race relations, the environment, and abortion.

Outside of Canada, many major corporations have announced they are walking back DEI and other related policies. Some of the most notable include Lowe’sJack Daniel’s, and Harley Davidson. Other companies such as DisneyTarget, and Bud Light have faced negative sales due to consumers fighting back and refusing to patronize the businesses.

Since taking power in 2015, the Liberal government, first under Justin Trudeau and now under Mark Carney, has continued to push a radical environmental agenda in line with those promoted by the World Economic Forum’s “Great Reset” and the United Nations’ “Sustainable Development Goals.” Part of this push includes the promotion of so called net-zero energy by as early as 2035.

Continue Reading

Business

The Liberals Finally Show Up to Work in 2025

Published on

From the National Citizens Coalition

Canadians Demand Action, Not More Empty Promises

The National Citizens Coalition (NCC) today calls out the Liberal government for their belated return to the House of Commons in 2025, after months of dodging accountability while Canadians grapple with skyrocketing costs, unaffordable housing, crime and chaos, and the fallout of a decade of failed Liberal policies.

While the Liberals dust off their seats, millions of Canadians have been struggling to pay for groceries, keep a roof over their heads, or envision a future where hard work still pays off. The NCC demands the government stop hiding behind empty rhetoric and deliver meaningful, common-sense actions to address the crises they’ve exacerbated.

“After years of empty gestures, empty rhetoric, and empty promises, showing up to Parliament in 2025 isn’t an achievement – it’s the bare minimum. Canadians are drowning in high taxes, inflation, and a housing crisis, and they deserve real solutions, not more speeches,” says NCC Director Alexander Brown.

The NCC calls on the Liberal government to immediately prioritize:

Immediate tax relief to put money back in the pockets of hardworking Canadians, including axing the HIDDEN CARBON TAX on our Great Canadian businesses.

Concrete steps to slash immigration back to responsible, sustainable norms; including a crackdown on fraudulent ‘diploma mills,’ and the abolishment of the ‘Temporary Foreign Worker’ program, to protect Canadian jobs, and the jobs of our youth.

Meaningful, immediate efforts to increase housing supply, by slashing red tape and bureaucratic roadblocks that drive up development costs.

An end to wasteful spending on pet projects and corporate handouts that do nothing for struggling families.

Steps toward meaningful criminal justice reform; including an end to Liberal catch-and-release bail for repeat violent offenders.

A plan to restore economic opportunity, so young Canadians can afford homes and build a future without fleeing the country.

And it’s time to Kill Bill C-69 — and Build Pipelines.

Working Canadians have heard enough platitudes – it’s time for results. The government must act decisively to fix the mess they’ve created or step aside for those who will. With just a few short weeks before the Liberals abscond for another vacation, IMMEDIATE ACTION is required to match the urgency of the moment, and to atone for the insult of the Liberals’ cynical, dishonest, “elbows up” campaign that left millions of young, working-age Canadians without hope for the future.

About the National Citizens Coalition:

Founded in 1967, the National Citizens Coalition is a non-profit organization dedicated to advocating for lower taxes, less government waste, and greater individual freedom. We stand for common-sense policies that once again put Canadians first.

Continue Reading

Trending

X