(Version française disponible ici)

A Canadian Press article written in partnership with Humber College’s StoryLab and published by major media outlets recently reported that growth in federal health transfers exceeded increases in health spending in all provinces. The implication is that the provinces are complaining for no reason, since Ottawa has increased its contribution.

The article says the team scrutinized decades of provincial public accounts and federal transfers and that the results contrast sharply with the rhetoric saying that the federal government is not contributing adequately to the increase in provincial health spending.

According to StoryLab, federal transfers to the provinces have increased by 212 per cent between 2004-2005 and 2022-2023, compared with 158 per cent for provincial health spending.

But is that really the case?

Between 1995-1996 and 2004-2005, the federal government withdrew significantly from health transfers as part of a drive to clean up public finances. In 2004, the first year of existence of the Council of the Federation, the provinces........

© IRPP - Policy Options