Canada - World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe

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