Private for-profit hospitals part of the solution to Canada's health-care woes, Fraser Institute argues

A Fraser Institute commentary wants Canada to let private for-profit companies run hospitals inside its universal system, and it leads with a Stockholm hospital it says proves the model works.

The commentary says Canadian hospitals struggle with long emergency room waits and long waits for planned surgeries. It argues private providers can deliver universally accessible hospital care in a way it considers compliant with the Canada Health Act. The Fraser Institute is a think tank that advocates free-market policies.

The piece points to private for-profit shares of hospitals in other countries: 40 per cent in Australia, 39 per cent in Germany, 4 per cent in Sweden and 65 per cent in Switzerland. It also claims that all universal health-care countries with the best access and performance records use the private sector in hospital and surgical care; the sample behind that claim is not shown in the excerpt available to us.

The centre of the argument is St. Göran, a Stockholm hospital. In the 1990s Stockholm County Council struck a deal with Capio, a private for-profit company, to run the public hospital, which had been slated for closure. The commentary says St. Göran's operating costs were 10 to 15 per cent lower than other Stockholm County hospitals in the early 2000s. In 2024 it had the lowest average cost of treating patients among Swedish hospitals, roughly 28 per cent below the national average, and between 2016 and 2024 it posted shorter emergency room waits than hospitals with similar patient characteristics. It also topped a 2025 national ranking of hospital quality.

Provincial governments, public health officials and critics of private delivery are not quoted in the material. The commentary does not say which Canadian province or facility, if any, the argument targets.