Health-care hiring has propped up Canada’s job market. Will patients see a difference?
A report from Desjardins Group indicates that Canada's recent job growth is heavily concentrated in the health-care sector, particularly in Ontario and Alberta. Economists warn that this hiring surge does not necessarily translate to improved patient care or a robust broader economy.
Why it matters
It highlights the reliance of the Canadian labor market on public sector spending and questions the efficiency of current health-care investments.
A report from Desjardins Group looking at Statistics Canada jobs data shows the two provinces have collectively added over 100,000 health-care jobs, mainly in public institutions, since the early days of the U.S. trade war, a trend consistent with increased funding for the sector set aside in those provinces' budgets.
Desjardins' analysis of provincial budget documents shows Alberta and Ontario each planned to spend upwards of $8 billion more on health in 2026 than 2025. Ontario budgeted $91.5 billion for health last year while Alberta budgeted $24 billion .
Without that hiring, Canada's employment picture "would have been broadly flat," the report's author, Desjardins deputy chief economist Randall Bartlett, told CBC News — which he said means claims of a robust Canadian economy are "a little misguided."
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