Albertans might be surprised to learn their province is projected to spend an average of $9,597.48 per person on health care in 2025, according to a new report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). This translates to a staggering provincial total of approximately $47 billion.
National Health Spending Outpaces Economic Growth
The report, released in late November 2025, paints a concerning picture at the national level as well. Health care spending across Canada is on track to grow nearly two percentage points faster than the overall economy this year. Total health expenditure is projected to reach $399 billion, driven largely by high inflation and record-breaking population growth.
Christopher Kuchciak, manager of national health expenditures at CIHI, noted that since 2020, external factors have created significant variability in health spending trends. The period from 2022-2023 saw economy-wide inflation rates climb to levels not witnessed since the 1980s.
Alberta's Spending in a Provincial Context
While the per-capita figure for Alberta seems high, the report reveals a surprising comparative position. Among Canadian provinces, only New Brunswick, Ontario, and Quebec spent less per person on health care in 2025.
The other six provinces all exceeded $10,000 per capita, with Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia both spending over $11,000 per person. This places Alberta near the bottom of the provincial spending rankings.
Historical Trends Show a Dramatic Shift
The CIHI report also provides a long-term perspective, comparing health expenditure per capita over the last half-century. The data reveals a dramatic reversal in Alberta's spending trajectory.
Fifty years ago, in 1975, Alberta spent less than $600 per capita on health care, which was among the highest rates in the country, second only to British Columbia. However, by 2025, Alberta's growth rate in health care spending had fallen to just 2.7 per cent—the lowest among all provinces and insufficient to keep pace with the combined pressures of inflation and population growth.
No other province had a growth rate below three per cent, with many at least doubling Alberta's rate. This long-term drift downward for Alberta contrasts with the generally stable national health spending trends observed prior to the pandemic.
The report confirms that health care spending in Alberta grew by 3.9 per cent in 2025. This increase occurred against a backdrop of galloping inflation and a burgeoning population, with Alberta experiencing even higher population growth than the national rates of 2.9 per cent in 2023 and three per cent in 2024—the highest Canada has seen in 60 years.
