Because Canada’s public health-care funding model doesn’t account for interprovincial migration, the movement of seniors from province to province can materially impact provincial budgets, according to a new study by the Fraser Institute.
“Canada’s public health-care funding model has several flaws including the fact that it doesn’t adjust for seniors moving around the country after they retire,” said Jason Clemens, executive vice-president of the Fraser Institute and co-author of The Impact of Interprovincial Migration of Seniors on Provincial Health Care Spending.
In a news release, the Fraser Institute notes the study finds that Canadians consume the bulk of health-care services after retiring. For example, Canadians aged 15 to 44 consume, on average, $2,093 in health-care services each year compared to $7,401 for Canadians aged 65 to 74. In other words, Canadian seniors consume three-and-a-half times more health-care services than a large portion of younger Canadians.
But while Canadians consume significantly more health care after retirement, they pay the bulk of their taxes—which fund health care—during their working years.
Migrating seniors pay most of their lifetime taxes in one province during their working lives. But when they move to another province, they consume health-care services in their new adopted province, the Fraser Institute explains.
Clemens warns that as Canada’s population ages over the coming decades, this discrepancy between provinces because of senior migration will become an even bigger issue.
According to Delta’s Social Profile, currently, seniors make up 15 to 20 per cent of Delta’s population. By 2024 it’s expected to increase to 41 per cent. The average age of Delta residents continues to be higher than the Metro Vancouver and provincial average.
