Hospital stays in Canada, 2022–2023

Top 5 reasons for hospital stays: 1 Giving birth; 2 COPD and bronchitis; 3 Heart failure; 4 Heart attack; 5 Pneumonia.
Top 5 reasons for hospital stays: 1 Giving birth; 2 COPD and bronchitis; 3 Heart failure; 4 Heart attack; 5 Pneumonia.

February 22, 2024 — What are the top reasons people are admitted to hospital in Canada? What are the top 10 surgeries in each province and territory?

Use the key findings and data tables to explore hospital activity in the second year of the pandemic, plus information on in-hospital births, standardized hospitalization rates and average lengths of stay.

Key findings

  • In 2022–2023, there were 2.96 million acute inpatient hospitalizations in Canada, up from 2.88 million visits in 2021–2022. After adjusting for differences in age, sex and population growth, the hospitalization rate was 7,000 per 100,000 population. 
  • The age-adjusted average length of stay (LOS) in hospital was 7.3 days in 2022–2023, similar to the previous year.
  • The most common reason for hospitalization in 2022–2023 was giving birth, with an average acute LOS of 2.1 days. This was followed by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and bronchitis (7.2 days) and heart failure (9.5 days). 
  • The most common inpatient surgery in Canada in 2022–2023 was a Caesarean section (C-section), with an average acute LOS of 2.7 days. This was followed by knee replacement (2.6 days) and hip replacement (6.1 days).
  • 6.2% of hospital stays had alternate level of care (ALC) days. These are days when the patient is occupying a hospital bed while waiting for more appropriate services in another care setting, such as chronic or complex continuing care, mental health or rehabilitation.
  • After a rebound in the rate of babies born in hospital to 94 per 10,000 population in 2021–2022, the gradual decline observed over time resumed in 2022–2023. The rate dropped to 88 per 10,000 population.
  • The total C-section rate has increased gradually over the years and was 32.5% in 2022–2023, an increase from 29.4% in 2018–2019.

Featured material

Inpatient Hospitalization, Surgery and Newborn Statistics

Learn more about hospitalization rates, in-hospital births and the top reasons for hospitalization and surgery.

 Download data tablesXLSX

Hospitalization and Childbirth — Supplementary Statistics

Learn more about hospitalization volumes, lengths of stay and standardized rates by sex, age group, and province or territory from 1995–1996 onward. Tables also include childbirth indicators by place of residence.

Download data tables (XLSX)
Download metadata (PDF) 

Related resources

 

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