Health • Healthcare System
How Canada's Aging Population Is Impacting Healthcare
By 2030, one in four Canadians will be over 65. The country is already feeling the strain: 38,000 seniors on long-term care wait lists, 60,000 unfilled nursing positions, 6.5 million Canadians without a family doctor, and healthcare spending approaching 13% of GDP with no sign of slowing. Canada's aging population is not a future problem — it is reshaping emergency rooms, long-term care facilities, home care systems, and provincial health budgets right now. This deep-dive analysis examines the full scope of the demographic shift, its cascading impact on healthcare costs and workforce, the dementia challenge, the home care imperative, and what structural reforms Canada needs to sustain universal healthcare through the most demanding demographic transition in its history.
