January 8, 2015
Newfoundland and Labrador face a $65 billion fiscal burden – the future tax bill for increased healthcare costs over the next half-century – and should prepare now for the coming demographic squeeze, says a report released today from the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Managing Healthcare for an Aging Population: Are Demographics a Fiscal Iceberg for Newfoundland and Labrador?,” authors William B.P. Robson, Colin Busby and Aaron Jacobs find that the province faces a liability related to demographically sensitive programs that is larger than the provincial GDP, raising the prospect of the province doubling the share of provincial income it collects as taxes.
