The Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) Dashboard helps patients and other stakeholders understand the facts about the disease and the gaps in the delivery of RA care and treatment in Canada.
Canada
General health information
Total population
Life expectancy men
Life expectancy women
38 million
80 years1
84 years1
Annual health
expenditure
Obesity
(% of population)
Smokers
(% of population)
$308 billion2
27%3
15%4
Arthritis in Canada
Total people living
with arthritis
Women
Men
Frequency (per 1,000 persons per year)
Estimated people living
with arthritis in 2040
Arthritis cost to society (health care costs and loss to economy)
6 million5
3.6 million5
2.4 million5
2007
8 million5
$34 billion5
Models of Rheumatoid Arthritis Care
Standardized model
of care
Number of rheumatologists
per 75,000 population
Time to RA diagnosis after experiencing first symptoms (% of patients within 1 month)
RA patient wait
time for first rheumatologist visit
(% of patients longer than
3 months)
No
0.629
37%10
33%10
RA in Canada
Total people living with RA
Women
Men
Frequency (per 1,000 persons per year)
Estimated people living with RA in 2040
RA cost to society
(health care costs and loss to economy)
385,0006
255,0006
130,0006
16
585,0008
$6 billion8
Barriers to virtual care
Lack of digital skills
Access to internet
Cost of Electronics
Language
Data Sources
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/82-003-x/2018004/article/54950-eng.htm
2 Canadian Institute for Health information. Health spending.
https://www.cihi.ca/en/health-spending
3 Statistics Canada. Overweight and obese adults, 2018.
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/82-625-x/2019001/article/00005-eng.htm
4 Canadian Public Health Association. Tobacco and Vaping Use in Canada: Moving Forward, May 31, 2021.
https://www.cpha.ca/tobacco-and-vaping-use-canada-moving-forward
5 The Journal of Rheumatology. An Update on Arthritis in Canada – National and Provincial Data Regarding the Past, Present and Future
https://www.jrheum.org/content/46/6/579.tab-figures-data
6 Government of Canada. Rheumatoid arthritis in Canada.
https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/diseases-conditions/rheumatoid-arthritis.html
7 Arthritis Society. Arthritis Facts and Figures.
https://arthritis.ca/about-arthritis/what-is-arthritis/arthritis-facts-and-figures
8 Athritis Alliance of Canada. The impact of arthritis in Canada: today and over the next 30 years.
https://www.arthritisalliance.ca/en/initiativesen/impact-of-arthritis
9 The Journal of Rheumatology. Results From the 2020 Canadian Rheumatology Association’s Workforce and Wellness Survey
https://www.jrheum.org/content/jrheum/early/2022/02/09/jrheum.210990.full.pdf
10 Global RA Network. Patient Experiences of Rheumatoid Arthritis Models of Care: An International Survey.
https://globalranetwork.org/project/global-ra-network-survey/