Health Care Is Good Medicine For Canada's Economy

In aggregate, health care delivery supported 2.1 million jobs in 2011, with a total labour compensation of $127.2 billion. This represents an average of $59,300 per job, which is slightly above the national average of $57,677.

Unlike most other sectors of the economy, the demand for health care does not fall during a recession. By supporting 2.1 million essentially 'recession-proof' jobs, health care spending can go a long way to mitigate the effects of an economic downturn on Canadians.

More than 21 per cent of all public spending on health care returns to governments in the form of taxes and other revenues. In 2011, the public sector's $141 billion expenditure on health care delivery generated an estimated $30.6 billion in government revenues.

In 2011, health care delivery in Canada contributed $163.4 billion to the domestic GDP, which represents 10.1 per cent of national GDP. As a share of provincial GDP, the economic contribution of health care is highest in Nova Scotia at 13.2 per cent and lowest in Alberta at 7.6 per cent.

This is the first briefing in the series Health Care in Canada: An Economic Growth Engine, which looks at the Canadian health care sector from an economic perspective. The research is produced under the banner of the Canadian Alliance for Sustainable Health Care. Launched in 2011, CASHC is a five-year Conference Board program of research and dialogue. It will delve deeply into facets of Canada's health care challenge, including the financial, workplace, and institutional dimensions, in an effort to develop forward-looking qualitative and quantitative analysis and solutions to make the system more sustainable. 

SOURCE Conference Board of Canada

PDF available at: http://stream1.newswire.ca/media/2013/01/31/20130131_C2068_DOC_EN_23153.pdf

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