Atlantic Canada’s health authorities recorded nearly $42 million in unpaid and written-off medical bills from non-residents of Canada over the past five fiscal years, according to a new report.
The July 15 report from government watchdog SecondStreet.org notes that the four Atlantic provinces recorded combined losses of $41.69 million in unpaid or written-off non-resident health-care bills between 2020-2021 and 2024-2025. SecondStreet obtained the data from each of the Atlantic province’s health authorities through freedom of information requests.
Nova Scotia accounted for about $27.2 million of the nearly $42 million in total unpaid bills, all of which were reported as write-offs. Nova Scotia Health also reported $27.4 million in outstanding non-resident accounts as of March 31, 2025, separate from the five-year total of written-off accounts….