Transforming Canada’s healthcare system must begin with children

By Emily Gruenwoldt

Never events” have become normalized in Canada’s children’s hospitals (and beyond) as children and youth struggle to access essential and time-sensitive healthcare services.

Every child deserves the opportunity to grow up healthy and strong, and to reach their full potential. But systemic underinvestment in the health and well-being of our youngest citizens has left them vulnerable.

Today, Canada dedicates 1.68 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) to policies and investments focused on children and youth, while other nations (like France, the United Kingdom and Sweden) invest up to 3.68 per cent. This has contributed to Canada’s unenviable ranking of 30th amongst 38 wealthy countries with respect to the overall health and well-being of children and youth. Status quo is not an option.

Following a historic viral season last fall, and in the wake of untenable backlogs for surgical and diagnostic services, the federal government pledged an immediate $2-billion Canada Health Transfer top-up to address “immediate pressures on the health care system, especially in pediatric hospitals and emergency rooms, and long wait times for surgeries.” This is an important acknowledgment that investments are needed to ‘right-size’ children’s health systems.

Unfortunately, to date, only two jurisdictions (Ontario and Nova Scotia) have taken steps to commit earmarked funding to strengthen the capacity of children’s healthcare systems. It’s critical that all provinces and territories share a commitment to achieving meaningful improvements in children’s health service delivery.

On July 19, 2023 the Ontario government did just this – announcing unprecedented funding earmarked for children’s health systems – including children’s hospitals, but also community- based child development and mental health service provider organi- zations. These dollars will have immediate impact addressing long backlogs for urgent and essential services, but also creating capacity for tomorrow.

Measurably improving children’s health outcomes, however, is not a task for the provinces and territories alone. It requires a collective and collaborative effort between our federal, provincial, territorial, and Indigenous governments to move towards a shared vision of healthier futures for our children. From there, we must direct predictable and ongoing funding towards children’s healthcare providers, creating much-needed relief for the struggling children’s healthcare system.

We must immediately start looking beyond the crisis to where Canada needs to go next. That means shifting from defining the problem to imple- menting solutions, including the development of a pan-Canadian child health strategy, and establishing predictable and ongoing funding to begin ‘right-sizing’ children’s health. Above all, we need action-oriented leadership to effect meaningful, long-term change.

A transformative child health strategy addressing not only physical health but also mental health and other essential services is the key to elevating the well-being of Canada’s children and youth. By setting clear targets, regularly measuring outcomes, and committing significant funding over the next decade, such a strategy can make substantial progress in improving the health and well-being of our children.

Leadership also plays a crucial role in driving this change. We need leaders who are passionate about improv- ing health outcomes for children, and who are willing to work collaboratively across all levels of government and with community partners. Their action-oriented focus should prioritize accountability, transparency, and continuous improvement in the delivery of children’s healthcare services.

Time is of the essence – everyday matters in the life of a child. The opportunity to make a sizeable and immediate impact on children’s health and wellbeing is within reach. Together as a child health community we have well defined the challenges, but equally have great line of sight into the solutions. We all have a role to play reimagining, and indeed transforming healthcare services for children, youth and their families, but we need our government partners at the table.