Canada’s healthcare systems are under increasing pressure: a rapidly aging population, new demands for services, fiscal challenges, and awkward interfaces between publicly and privately funded services are among the challenges to which Canadians must adapt. Sound research and advice from independent sources will be integral to achieving desirable policy outcomes. The C.D. Howe Institute’s Healthcare Policy Initiative is an ongoing program to produce research, analysis and events to raise the level of debate around Canadian healthcare and to help motivate policy improvements. The program will address critical issues such as: international lessons on financing and incentives; defining the services provided under public plans; incentives and funding arrangements for hospitals and healthcare providers; federal and provincial policy on pharmaceuticals; options for primary-care reform; access and quality of care. As with all the Institute’s work, the program aims to provide research that is rigorous, evidence-based, and peer-reviewed, recommendations that are relevant, constructive, and timely, and communications that are clear, authoritative and practical.
Co-Chairs

Janet Davidson
Don Johnson Fellow-in-Residence
Neil Fraser
Former President, Medtronic of Canada Ltd.Members

Mehmood Alibhai
Director, Patient Access & Healthcare Policy, Boehringer-Ingelheim Canada Ltd
Richard Alvarez
CEO, Richard Alvarez & Associates
Angela Behboodi
Director, Government Affairs and Advocacy, Amgen
Joseph Berger
Director, Public Policy and Research, McKesson Canada
Åke Blomqvist
Research Fellow
Alain Boisvert
Head, Government & Public Affairs, Pharmascience Inc.
Charles Brown
President and CEO, LifeLabs
Jennifer Chan
Executive Director, Policy and Government Affairs, Merck Canada
Karen Cutler
VP, Head of Underwriting and Claims, Chief Underwriter, Manulife
Sheri Dodd
President, Medtronic CanadaResearch Papers

Shortcomings in Seniors' Care: How Canada Compares to its Peers and the Paths to Improvement
September 21, 2023
Better for Workers, Better for All? Assessing a Portable Health Benefits Plan in Ontario
February 28, 2023
Troubles in Canada’s Health Workforce: The Why, the Where, and the Way Out of Shortages
November 2, 2022