Canada’s unions sound alarm on public health care crisis
Calls for urgent action to reinvest in universal, publicly funded health care system
Nanaimo, B.C. — Standing in front of Nanaimo Hospital, labour leaders and frontline workers joined together to issue a stark warning: Canada’s public health care system is in critical condition, and political inaction is pushing it toward collapse.
“Our public health care system is on life support,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “Staffing shortages have reached a dangerous tipping point. Wait times for surgeries span months or even years. Millions of Canadians are living without access to a family doctor, and far too many must choose between paying for medication and covering basic needs.”
Canada’s unions are calling out decades of underfunding, understaffing, privatization, and political decisions that have allowed corporate interests to flourish at the expense of everyday Canadians.
“This didn’t happen overnight. It’s the direct result of choices made by politicians who prioritize tax breaks for the wealthy over investments in public health care,” said Bruske.
Labour leaders underscored the rise in for-profit care, including the growing presence of American health care corporations operating in Canada.
“Canada’s health care system was built on the principle that everyone deserves care based on need, not ability to pay,” said Barb Nederpel, President, Hospital Employees’ Union, who represents over 60,000 health care workers in British Columbia. “Our members are exhausted. They were called heroes during the pandemic, and now they’re working in a broken, overburdened system, without the support they need.”
Canada’s unions are calling on all political parties, especially during this federal election, to commit to:
- A national health workforce strategy that recruits, retains, and properly compensates health care workers;
- A full, universal, single-payer Pharmacare program—no more delays or half-measures;
- Reinvestment in public health, long-term care, and home care to meet the needs of an aging population;
- An end to growing privatization that leaves patients behind and profits corporations.
The message was clear: Canadians cherish their public health care system. It is a pillar of national identity and a foundation for a fairer society.
“We don’t want American-style health care where people go bankrupt for getting sick,” said Bruske. “We want a system that puts patients before profits—and politicians who are brave enough to fight for it.”
Despite this crisis, health care will not be a focus of this week’s federal leaders’ debate, an astonishing omission and a missed opportunity to address one of the most urgent issues facing Canadians today. Our leaders must stop ignoring the crisis and commit to fixing our health care system.
Canada’s unions are demanding urgent leadership to fix the crisis, invest in care, and protect what generations of Canadians have built.
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