CIHI Logo
  • Topic
  • Published
  • Updated

Health spending

Health spending cyin_master

CIHI provides our stakeholders with trend analyses and short-term forecasts of health spending in Canada. CIHI’s analyses include overall health spending at national, provincial and territorial levels; details of health facility and regional health authority spending; and cost estimates for services provided to patients in hospitals. CIHI also tracks hospital financial performance and spending related to patient care.

Explore information on health spending, including reports, data tables and other key resources.

Featured materials

National health expenditure trends

  • Release summary
  • November 7, 2024
An overview of Canadian health spending trends, featuring comparative expenditure data at provincial, territorial and international levels.

Hospital spending

  • Release summary
  • October 31, 2024
Take an in-depth look at hospital spending in Canada and discover emerging trends using data from the Canadian MIS Database (CMDB).

Prescribed drug spending in Canada, 2023

  • Release summary
  • November 2, 2023
Take an in-depth look at prescribed drug spending in Canada in 2022 and learn about how different drug classes contribute to current trends in total public drug program spending.

Physicians

  • Health care providers
  • December 17, 2024
Physician data contributes to evidence-based planning and management of the health workforce. How many physicians are there in Canada? What are their average gross payments?

Patient Cost Estimator

  • Tool
  • October 7, 2024
Estimate the average cost of various hospital services, costs incurred by hospitals and the average cost of the average typical inpatient in an acute care facility. 

Data tables

See all data tables

Reports and releases

See all reports and releases

Health spending: Reports and releases

Health spending: Reports and releases cyin_master

This page lists health spending reports, stories, infographics and release summaries.

Showing 1 to 10 of 65 results

Canadian MIS Database eReports

  • Report
  • Published
Explore financial and utilization data from health service organizations across Canada in accordance with the Standards for Management Information Systems.

National health expenditure trends

  • Release summary
  • Published
An overview of Canadian health spending trends, featuring comparative expenditure data at provincial, territorial and international levels.

Hospital spending

  • Release summary
  • Published
Take an in-depth look at hospital spending in Canada and discover emerging trends using data from the Canadian MIS Database (CMDB).

COVID-19 hospitalization and emergency department statistics

  • Release summary
  • Published
​​Explore the most recent information on hospitalizations and emergency department visits for patients with a diagnosis of COVID-19, including volumes, patient demographics and other key factors.

Health spending: Data tables

Health spending: Data tables cyin_master

This page lists data tables that provide information about health spending.

Showing 1 to 10 of 62 results

Prescribed Drug Spending in the Pharmaceutical Data Tool (XLSX)

  • Data tables
  • Published
Public drug program spending accounted for 44% of prescribed drug spending in Canada in 2021. Public drug program spending does not include spending on drugs dispensed in hospitals or on drugs funded through cancer agencies and other special programs.

Formulary Coverage in the Pharmaceutical Data Tool (XLSX)

  • Data tables
  • Published
A formulary is a list of the drugs covered for eligible populations, and the type of coverage provided. Every public drug plan or program in Canada has a unique formulary.

Prescribed Drug Use Among Seniors in the Pharmaceutical Data Tool (XLSX)

  • Data tables
  • Published
On average, seniors have a higher number of chronic conditions, and as a result they are prescribed a higher number of drugs than other age groups. The use of multiple drugs is associated with a higher risk of emergency department (ED) visits and…

Spending on High-Cost Drugs in the Pharmaceutical Data Tool (XLSX)

  • Data tables
  • Published
Spending on high-cost chemicals (those with an average cost of $10,000 or more per person per year) accounts for a large proportion of total public drug program spending. Beneficiaries for whom a public drug program paid $10,000 or more can typically be…

Spending on Biologic Drugs in the Pharmaceutical Data Tool (XLSX)

  • Data tables
  • Published
Biologic drugs, which are derived from living organisms, are structurally more complex and more expensive than traditional pharmaceuticals. Spending on biologics continues to increase in Canada, which has ranked third among Organisation for Economic Co-…

Drug Programs in the Pharmaceutical Data Tool (XLSX)

  • Data tables
  • Published
Public drug plans/programs provide drug coverage for a specific population. Federal, provincial and territorial governments offer many different drug plans/programs, most of which have defined criteria for eligibility that include things like age, income…

Reimbursement Policies in the Pharmaceutical Data Tool (XLSX)

  • Data tables
  • Published
Reimbursement policies specify the allowable limits that are placed on the costs for prescription drugs. These can include policies and limitations related to ingredient pricing, the maximum cost of generic drugs, coverage of drugs with lower-cost…

Markup Policies in the Pharmaceutical Data Tool (XLSX)

  • Data tables
  • Published
Markup policies outline the maximum amount a pharmacy can add to the cost of a drug or ingredient, above the original cost. This amount is usually stated as a percentage of the cost.

Professional Fees in the Pharmaceutical Data Tool (XLSX)

  • Data tables
  • Published
Professional fees are the amount paid to a service provider for their services. They’re typically paid to a pharmacist and include dispensing fees, compounding fees or any other special service fees. Each jurisdiction has its own policies for these fees.

Health spending: Indicators

Health spending: Indicators cyin_master

This page lists CIHI’s indicators of health spending.

Showing 1 to 7 of 7 results

Corporate Services Expense Ratio (CSER)

  • Indicator
  • Published
This indicator measures the percentage of the legal entity's total expenses that were spent in administrative departments such as finance and human resources.

Cost of a Standard Hospital Stay

  • Indicator
  • Published
This indicator gives the ratio of a hospital’s total acute inpatient expenses to the number of acute inpatient cases adjusted for resource use (RIW).

Health spending: Tools

Health spending: Tools cyin_master

This page lists CIHI’s performance reporting tools that contain health spending data.

Showing 1 to 5 of 5 results

Data Preview for Indicators Tool

  • Tool
  • Published
The Data Preview for Indicators web tool is used by stakeholders to review or validate their indicator results before they are made publicly available.

Patient Cost Estimator

  • Tool
  • Published
Estimate the average cost of various hospital services, costs incurred by hospitals and the average cost of the average typical inpatient in an acute care facility. 

Pharmaceutical Data Tool

  • Tool
  • Published
This tool provides information on use and spending for publicly funded pharmaceuticals across Canada, as well as design, payment structures and formularies of public drug programs in Canada.

Your Health System: In Brief

  • Tool
  • Published
Your Health System: In Brief is an interactive health information tool that explores the five themes that Canadians told us were the most important.

Health spending: Data holdings

Health spending: Data holdings cyin_master

This page contains information about CIHI’s data holdings related to health spending.

Showing 1 to 10 of 10 results

National Health Expenditure Database metadata

  • Metadata
  • Published
Canadian health expenditures with international comparisons, as well as spending on hospitals, nursing homes, drugs and physicians funded by public and private sources.

National Physician Database metadata

  • Metadata
  • Published
Source, data coverage, data availability, data elements and data quality of the National Physician Database (NPDB).

Patient Level Physician Billing (PLPB) metadata

  • Metadata
  • Published
​​​Metadata information on the source, statement of purpose, data coverage, data availability, data elements and data quality of the Patient Level Physician Billing data.

Health spending: News and podcasts

Health spending: News and podcasts cyin_master

This page contains media releases, bulletins and podcast episodes about health spending.

Showing 1 to 10 of 13 results

Palliative Care in Canada — Bernard Lapointe and Philippe Miquel

  • Podcast episode
  • Published
In this episode of the CHIP, host Alya Niang speaks with McGill University professor Bernard Lapointe and documentary filmmaker Philippe Miquel about the state of palliative care in Canada and why it is such a critical part of health care.

Palliative Care in Canada — Dr. Naheed Dosani

  • Podcast episode
  • Published
In this episode of the CHIP, host Avis Favaro speaks with Dr. Naheed Dosani about the state of palliative care in Canada and why it is such a critical part of health care.

Surgical Wait Times in Canada — Dr. Etienne Belzile

  • Podcast episode
  • Published
In this episode of the CHIP, host Alya Niang speaks with Dr. Etienne Belzile about the causes of surgical backlogs in Canada and what could be done to fix the problems for the long term.

Health spending: Education resources

Health spending: Education resources jtseng_master

Through our Learning Centre, CIHI provides opportunities for health professionals to understand our evolving reporting systems and the application of our standards, data and analytics. We offer many courses and resources for a variety of audiences, including clinicians, assessors, data submitters and analysts, decision-makers, policy planners and researchers.

Courses and resources are available in a variety of formats, including eLearning modules, PDF and page-based documents, live and recorded web conferences, and videos.

On this page:

Learning opportunities

Resources offered through the Learning Centre include the following: 

Access CIHI’s Learning Centre

Discover whether you can learn for free!

Simply log in with your CIHI profile and prices will adjust to reflect your entitlements.

Log in 

New user?

Create a CIHI profile so our system can recognize your organization’s entitlements. By doing so, you will get a Learning Centre account — no extra steps needed!

Create a profile 

Browse our catalogues

With 300 learning products in a variety of areas, we’re sure to have something that meets your needs — and our online courses will always fit your schedule.

Visit the Education page 

Other education resources

Resources offered through CIHI include the following:

Showing 1 to 10 of 16 results

Management Information System Standards

  • Database manual
  • Published
National standards for financial and statistical data of health service organizations reported to the Canadian MIS Database by ministries of health.

Canadian MIS Database (CMDB) User Guide (PDF)

  • User guide
  • Published
​The CMDB User Guide provides information on the composition, processing and use of data from the Canadian Management Information System (MIS) Database (CMDB).

Population Grouping Methodology in Action (PDF)

  • Information sheet
  • Published
​​This information sheet highlights the main applications of CIHI’s population grouping methodology using chronic health conditions as an example.

Hospital Harm FAQ (PDF)

  • FAQ
  • Published
Frequently asked questions related to the Hospital Harm project, including information on the new measure, associated improvement resource and pan-Canadian findings.

Terms of Use: www.cihi.ca/en/about-cihi/terms-of-use

© CIHI 1996 - 2025