Canada

With a per capita income of $33,900, Canada is the 16th-richest country in the world, with a high standard of living and easy access to healthcare. The United Nations Development Programme Human Development Reports rank Canada sixth in the world in overall quality-of-life issues. Commitment to health-care is integral to the Canadian philosophy, and the government allots 3 percent of the total budget for health expenditures.

Almost 10 percent (9.9 percent) of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is earmarked for health spending, and $2,989 (international dollars) per capita are used to provide healthcare. Government funding accounts for 69.9 percent of total health expenditures, with 2.1 percent assigned to funding social security. The private sector provides 30.1 percent of health-care expenditures, and 49.60 of those costs are out-of-pocket expenses. There are 2.14 physicians, 9.95 [Page 335]nurses, 0.59 dentists, and 0.67 pharmacists per 1,000 population in Canada.

Following the lead of Saskatchewan, other provinces became involved in providing healthcare at the end of World War II. In 1966, the Federal Medicare Program was established to provide medical benefits for the elderly. Canadians are adamant about the government's responsibility to provide healthcare through the National Health Service, which is funded through a combination of federal and provincial taxes and user fees. By law, every Canadian must be covered under the plan, and coverage must be uniform across the nation. The plan is both portable and comprehensive, guaranteeing quality healthcare in all provinces and covering all medically necessary hospital stays and doctors’ fees. Canada's health plan is implemented on a nonprofit basis in cooperation with the private sector.

Canada has the 12th-highest life expectancy in the world. The approximately 33,098,932 people of Canada can expect to live to 80.22 years, with women outliving men by an average of six years. Literacy is predictably high, and only 1 percent of the population over the age of 15 are unable to read and write. One hundred percent of Canadian children are enrolled in primary and secondary school. Despite the high standard of living, some Canadians do suffer economically; current unemployment is reported at 6.8 percent. While Canada does not have an official poverty line, wages for 15.9 percent of the population fall below the low income cut-off (LICO) line. The segments of the population most likely to be poor are aboriginals (27 percent) and single mothers with dependent children (35.1 percent). As a result of unequal distribution of income, Canada ranks 33.1 on the Gini index of inequality, with the richest 10 percent claiming 23.8 percent of resources while the poorest 10 percent share only 2.8 percent. One hundred percent of urban Canadians have access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation, and only 1 percent of rural residents lack such access.

Three-fourths of Canadian women use some method of birth control, and the fertility rate is predictably low at 1.61 children per female. Only 2 percent of births occur outside the presence of trained personnel. The adjusted maternal mortality rate is predictably low at six deaths per 100,000 live births. Domestic violence is a major problem in Canada, particularly among military families, and threatens the health of both women and children. However, new laws, greater public awareness and government responsibility, and an increase in the number of available shelters for abused women and their children has resulted in a decline in the number of domestic violence cases reported in recent years. Particular attention is being paid to aboriginal women because of historical patterns of domestic violence among this group both on and off reservations.

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