Health-care costs will rise significantly as population ages, says new report

Sheri Levergood spends time with her mother, Janet Levergood at a long-term care residence where Janet now lives in Waterloo, Ont. on Tuesday, April 4, 2023. (THE CANADIAN PRESS//Peter Power)

TORONTO — A new report says Canada needs to rethink its approach to health care to help manage rising costs as people age.

CSA Group, an organization that helps policymakers develop standards around health and safety, says health care currently costs about $12,000 per year for each person 65 years and older, compared to $2,700 for each person younger than 65.

Today's report says seniors make up about 18 per cent of Canada's population but account for about 45 per cent of health-care spending by provincial and territorial governments.

The group projects costs will continue to increase significantly, with seniors making up 22 per cent of the Canadian population by 2040.

Jordann Thirgood, manager of CSA Group's public policy centre, says that will coincide with more retirees and therefore less income tax revenue to pay for health costs.

Thirgood says governments need to put more resources into illness prevention, including addressing factors such as housing, mental health and loneliness, which affect people's overall health as they age.

"The Canadian health-care system is often described as a 'sickness treatment' or 'illness treatment' system, (where) our public health-care system is primarily focused on doctors and hospitals," she said in an interview Tuesday.

That means "less focus on preventive care, wellness, and increasingly urgent needs in uninsured areas such as mental health," says the report, which is called Aging Canada 2040: Policy Implications of Demographic Change.

Thirgood said focusing on social determinants of health and addressing people's health needs over the course of their lives to help them age well is critical to reducing illness and the associated health-care costs.

She said that can have a big impact on improving people's overall health as they age.

"There's strong evidence that correlates social isolation and loneliness with serious health risk," Thirgood said. "Research shows that (it) is similar to or even exceeding risks such as smoking, obesity and physical inactivity."

Homelessness is another factor that puts people at higher risk of chronic illness, she said -- and many seniors are affected.

"We are increasingly seeing older adults that are unhoused as a result of increasing cost (and) financial insecurity," Thirgood said.

"Given ... the context of the housing crisis, I think we can imagine that that's going to remain an urgent issue for the years to come."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 3, 2024.