Canada - World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe
Canada - World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe
Canada - World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe
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Executive summary<br />
Introduction<br />
The second largest country in the world as measured by area, <strong>Canada</strong><br />
is a high-income country with an advanced industrial economy. Since<br />
2006, <strong>Canada</strong>’s economic per<strong>for</strong>mance has been relatively solid despite<br />
the recession that began in 2008. Although revenue growth has remained robust,<br />
the federal government as well as a number of provincial governments have also<br />
reduced tax rates in recent years. At the same time, health care costs continue<br />
to grow at rates that exceed economic and government revenue growth, raising<br />
concerns about the fiscal sustainability of health expenditure financed through<br />
the public sector.<br />
<strong>Canada</strong> is a constitutional monarchy based on a British-style parliamentary<br />
system. It is also a federation with two constitutionally recognized orders of<br />
government. The first order is the central or “federal” government, which is<br />
responsible <strong>for</strong> certain aspects of health and pharmaceutical regulation and<br />
safety, as well as the financing and administration of health benefits and<br />
services <strong>for</strong> specific populations. The second, but constitutionally equal,<br />
order of government consists of the ten provincial governments, which bear<br />
the principal responsibility <strong>for</strong> a broad range of social policy programmes<br />
and services including the bulk of publicly financed and administered health<br />
services.<br />
Life expectancy in <strong>Canada</strong> has continued to increase since 1980, especially<br />
<strong>for</strong> males, and is relatively high compared with most OECD countries, even<br />
though infant mortality and maternal mortality rates tend to be worse than<br />
those in Australia, France and (especially) Sweden. The two main causes of<br />
death in <strong>Canada</strong> are cancer (malignant neoplasms) and cardiovascular disease,<br />
both of which have occupied the top positions since 2000.<br />
Executive summary