Ottawa discourages health-care innovation, and patients pay the price

The federal government approach of discouraging and even penalizing provincial innovations that fall outside federal preferences has helped ensure the overpriced and under-performing status quo.

Health Minister Marjorie Michel. By demanding strict adherence to the Canada Health Act, the federal government discourages provincial governments from experimenting with certain policies, write Nadeem Esmail and Mackenzie Moir. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Opinion

BY NADEEM ESMAIL, MACKENZIE MOIR

March 5, 2026

Canada’s health-care system is broken. We have some of the developed world’s longest wait lists, fewest doctors, and...

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