On May 24th, 2023, the New Brunswick Health Council (NBHC) published a Web page on health spending based on the latest available data (2020) from the National Health Expenditure (NHEX) tables published by the Canadian Health Information Institute (CIHI).
The objective of this new webpage is to enhance and facilitate access to the amounts and proportions spent by the Government of New Brunswick as well as New Brunswick residents on health-related needs and to raise awareness about different notions pertaining to health spending. This will also help New Brunswickers visualize how N.B. compares to other provinces.
“Accessing information on health system resources has always been a challenge. For this reason, we have decided to take a first step towards making health spending and resources available , and we are starting with health spending, “explains Stéphane Robichaud, Chief Executive Officer.
The NBHC has drawn the following key messages:
- In 2020, New Brunswick Health spending per capita was the second lowest in Canada. However, the percentage of New Brunswick’s GDP being spent on health was higher than the Canadian average.
- Private sector per capita health spending in New Brunswick was among the highest in Canada. Spending on medications made up the largest percentage of private spending.
“We have learned that a lack of improvement in health system performance is not necessarily related to how much money is spent. It is important to determine the targeted outcomes and to ensure consistent access to the necessary information to ultimately create a better health system,” adds Robichaud.
The NBHC’s objective is to update this information as it becomes available and add new components to this webpage regarding human resources in the health system.
For more details, visit the webpage on Health Spending.
For interview requests, please contact:
Nay O’Leary
Executive Director, Citizen Engagement
Phone: 506-869-6728
Email: Nay.O’Leary@nbhc.ca