CHEPA Seminar: Expenditure trends in financing public health systems in Canada

Sara Allin, Associate Professor of Health Policy at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, will present a seminar on Wednesday, November 20 at 12 noon on the topic “Financing public health systems in Canada: a multiple methods study to estimate and explain expenditure trends.”

Allin is also Director of the North American Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (NAO), a collaborative partnership and research centre focussed on sub-national and international health systems research to support evidence-informed policy making.

Her presentation will summarize a program of research that aimed to address the questions:

• how much do Canada’s provinces and territories spend on public health,
• what explains the variations?

National health expenditure data was used to describe the trends over time in public health expenditures across Canada’s provinces and territories.  It showed increasing rates of growth of public health expenditures across most provinces over the past 40 years, except for Quebec and Nova Scotia where growth rates declined slightly.

Researchers then conducted qualitative case studies using document reviews and semi-structured interviews with decision makers and key stakeholders in three provinces (British Columbia, Ontario and Nova Scotia) to a) describe the budget setting process for the public health sector, and b) uncover the factors influencing this process.

The presentation will share findings from the analysis of documentary and interview data, currently in progress, that sheds some light on the divergent trends in expenditure growth rates over time. Allin will conclude with some implications for policy and research on public health systems.

The seminar will take place in CRL-B119 at 12 noon on Wednesday, November 20, and virtually on Zoom. For a link to participate remotely, email ramsay@mcmaster.ca All are welcome to attend.