Canada’s universal health care system is one of our proudest national achievements, and our largest public investment.

It reflects a deeply held belief: that everyone deserves the opportunity to live a healthy life, and that caring for one another is central to who we are as a country. When the system frays or fails, the consequences are personal and far-reaching.

But the value of health extends well beyond its social benefits. When people are healthy, they can work, innovate, and build. When they are not, that potential is lost, and Canada’s productivity suffers. Every traditional lever of productivity, including innovation, technology, and foreign capital, is muted when the workforce meant to power it is not healthy.