Manitoba spends, what comes next?

Whatever Manitobans think of this government’s health-care record, its willingness to spend is impressive. The promise to rebuild care has inspired a massive mobilization of public money.

Health, Seniors and Long-Term Care spending reached $9.66 billion in 2025-26. Next year’s budget allocates $10.59 billion, an almost 10 per cent increase above last year’s actual spending, following increases of approximately 5.6 and 6.8 per cent in the preceding years. The government has found room for another $931 million in a single year.

That allocation stands roughly $2 billion above spending in 2023-24, the year the government changed, and represents an increase of nearly one-quarter. At $10.59 billion, the budget amounts to approximately $29 million a day.

Let’s consider the province’s reported additions and funding commitments:

• Four extended-hours primary-care clinics;

• Two minor-injury and illness clinics;

• 384 additional staffed hospital beds;

• 145 reopened personal-care home beds;

• 17 psychiatrists hired this year;

• Another $36.5 million for electronic medical records;

• $22.1 million for Heart Care Manitoba, including 18 beds and expanded cardiac services;

• $13.6 million for a mental-health assessment zone at Health Sciences Centre;

• $1.7 million for 200 additional hip and knee replacements;

• $1.2 million for 3,250 additional magnetic resonance imaging scans;

• $71.8 million this year for personal-care home construction;

• The Portage Place health centre, with an estimated total project cost of $543 million.

The government’s plans reach from the patient charts on a physician’s screen to the buildings in which generations of Manitobans will receive care. Its financial ambition extends across staffing, technology, treatment and construction.

Manitoba’s broader health-spending picture provides context. The Canadian Institute for Health Information estimates Manitoba’s total public and private health spending at $10,868 per person in 2025, third among the provinces and approximately 13 per cent above the Canadian average.

Applying Manitoba’s 2024 spending premium to Canada’s purchasing-power-adjusted 2024 international figure produces an estimate close to Sweden, the eighth-highest spender among the 38 countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Some of the increased spending may represent necessary catch-up. Higher wages, growing demand and neglected capacity can all require substantial resources. Geography and population health needs also influence what care costs. Whatever the combination, this government has demonstrated a considerable readiness to allocate more.

There are encouraging reports. Manitoba says median waits for non-urgent endoscopy fell from 233 days in 2022 to 69 days by July 2026.

Other investments will take longer to mature. Training requires time, and construction happens over years. Better health, safer care and less waiting carry value even when they produce no cash savings. Publishing the cost, intended benefit and actual results of major initiatives would help Manitobans appreciate what each investment delivers.

The financial commitment will also mature. If spending continues to increase by 10 per cent in each of the next four years, the $10.59-billion allocation will become approximately $15.5 billion by 2030. That would represent almost another $4.9 billion above this year’s allocation.

The government’s financial ambition is all the more striking as it seeks certainty from Ottawa. Provincial and territorial ministers warn that $1.2 billion in annual federal funding across Canada for mental health, addictions and home and community care is scheduled to expire on March 31, 2027. They are seeking its renewal to protect services and jobs.

Manitoba is undertaking an ambitious expansion while simultaneously seeking certainty about expiring targeted federal funding. The need for more room may be compelling. Proceeding on this scale of spending expresses considerable confidence in the ability to carry the bills.

How will Manitoba sustain the affected services if Ottawa does not renew that support?

Health care presents tragic choices. Governments can raise revenue, borrow or redirect money from other priorities, change how care is delivered or leave some needs unmet.

Manitoba has shown remarkable determination to make more resources available. Its willingness to fund additional capacity has given substantial financial expression to the promise of rebuilding care.

The coming years offer an opportunity to bring that same determination to innovation and efficiency — connecting services, reducing administrative work and helping patients leave hospital safely. Sustaining these commitments will be an achievement worthy of the ambition behind them.

Can Manitoba turn its impressive purchases into more reliable care?

Having demonstrated the determination to spend, the government has earned the opportunity to show what value that investment can deliver.

Rafiq Andani is an assistant professor of family medicine at the University of Manitoba and holds a master’s degree in health economics, policy and management from the London School of Economics.