How does Canada's healthcare system rank internationally? Depending on the issues evaluated, different healthcare ranking reports produce different results. But, in general, the reports consider some or all of the same factors:

1. Whether all of a country's citizens receive healthcare.
2. Access to care is affordable and available to all citizens.
3. Administrative efficiency, i.e., healthcare spending as a percentage of the country's GDP.
4. Is primary care available to all communities?
5. Health outcomes, i.e., quality of care, as measured by life expectancy, avoidable deaths, etc.
6. Innovation and technology

A. Ranking Organization - The Commonwealth Fund

The Commonwealth Fund is a private American foundation. It is funded by an endowment made by Anna M. Harkness in 1918. The Commonwealth Fund conducts independent healthcare research and issues policy recommendations aimed at improving access, quality, and efficiency -- especially for vulnerable populations. The Fund is widely known for its international health system comparisons, such as its rankings of wealthy countries’ health outcomes and costs.

Although its data selection methodology has been criticized for bias, incompleteness, and having ulterior motives, the Fund's 2022-2024 report makes interesting reading.

Overall rankings, when considering all the factors, puts Australia in first place, with the Netherlands in second place, and the UK in third place for overall performance:

1. Healthcare Spending as a Percentage of GDP

The two countries with the highest overall ranking (Australia at #1 and the Netherlands at #2) also have the lowest spending on healthcare as a percentage of GDP.

2. Access to Care (i.e., availability and affordability of healthcare)

The rankings show:

Note: Canada is the only one of these five countries which does not have private inpatient care.

3. Care Delivery Process

This section includes innovations and preventive services such as mammograms, flu vaccinations, and patient safety strategies to avoid/minimize hospital-acquired infections, adverse events, etc.

4. Health Outcomes

As measured by life expectancy at birth, excess deaths due to the pandemic, and deaths that could have been prevented by treatment:

The Commonwealth Fund summarizes its key findings:

• Although the differences between them are small, in overall performance, the top three countries are Australia, the Netherlands, and the UK.
• With the lowest ranking in overall performance, the USA is in a class by itself.

B. Ranking Organization - US News & World Report

Collaborating with Newsweek, the "US News & World Report" has assembled a "World's Best Hospitals List", based on three criteria:

• Peer recommendations (55%)
• Patient experience (15%)
• Quality Indicators (e.g., patient safety, hygiene) (30%)

The top five from this list are:

1. Mayo Clinic - Rochester (Rochester, MN, USA)
2. Cleveland Clinic (Cleveland, OH, USA)
3. Toronto General - University Health Network (Toronto, ON, Canada)
4. Karolinska Universitetssjukhuset (Stockholm, Sweden)
5. Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston, MA, USA)

C. Final Thoughts:

Many commentators wonder whether rankings like these truly reflect the countries' healthcare systems. The press reports that the most significant factors in assessing the quality of a healthcare system are:

1. Citizens' life expectancy at birth
2. The cost of care for patients

Also see:

• What Kind of Healthcare System Does Canada Have?