Abstract

In February of 2006, The Conference Board of Canada released the first-ever report benchmarking how well or how poorly the ten provincial healthcare systems are doing in relation to each other. The report is based on comparable health indicators released by the provinces in 2004 and identifies strengths and weaknesses of the healthcare systems in each province. It also provides a comparison of overall Canadian performance in relation to other countries. So which province has the best system? Well, it depends … there are many ways to view the data and not all provinces collect data on all indicators. However, in terms of the health status indicators - for instance, life expectancy and level of activity which are influenced by socio-economic status and living conditions - British Columbia was the clear leader followed by Quebec and Ontario.
Health Status Ranking Weighted Count
1 British Columbia 84
2 Quebec 67
3 Ontario 64
4 Alberta 58
5 Prince Edward Island 49
6 Saskatchewan 48
7 New Brunswick 43
8 Newfoundland and Labrador 42
9 Nova Scotia 35
10 Manitoba 33

Source: The Conference Board of Canada.

The full report can be downloaded at the Conference Board website: www.conferenceboard.ca/documents.asp?rnext=1533