New blueprint plan ties missed diagnoses to rising claims, lost income, and retirement risk
Canadian women live longer than men but spend 24 percent more of their lives in poor health, a gap that shows up in disability claims, benefit costs and workforce participation, according to analysis from the McKinsey Health Institute prepared for Women’s Health Collective Canada (WHCC).
The Blueprint focuses on how a coordinated, pan-Canadian approach could reduce that health gap and, according to McKinsey’s modelling, add an estimated $37bn to Canada’s GDP by 2040.
The analysis attributes more than 75 percent of the women’s health gap to cancer, cardiovascular disease, and brain and mental health disorders, with additional contributions from hormonal health, menopause and chronic pelvic pain.
Several points are directly relevant: brain and mental health conditions account for a larger share of benefits claims for women than for men, and menopause-related symptoms are associated with reduced hours, lower income or workforce exit, with one estimate placing lost income at about $3bn.
The Blueprint argues these outcomes reflect systems that were not designed with women’s needs in mind, from research and clinical trials to care pathways and workplace support.
It links delayed diagnosis and mismatched care to under-representation of women in trials, limited sex- and gender-disaggregated data, and the absence of sex-specific clinical guidance in major disease areas.
Amy Flood, executive director of Women’s Health Collective Canada, said “women are not a niche population, and women’s health is not a niche concern.”
She said the blueprint sets out what needs to change, calls for coordinated action, and assigns roles to governments, businesses, researchers, educators and the public.
The document centres on four pillars that are meant to move together:
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We know: improve sex- and gender-disaggregated data and representation in research and clinical trials.
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We care: embed sex-specific clinical care pathways and widen access to prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
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We invest: scale women’s health research funding and innovation through public, private and philanthropic capital.
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We empower: support women with information, tools and workplace conditions that allow them to manage their health across life stages.
Within that structure, five condition areas are flagged as priorities:
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Cancer, where trial participation and research have not always reflected women’s disease burden, and innovation and data gaps drive much of the shortfall in outcomes.
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Cardiovascular disease, where women’s symptom patterns, risk factors and treatment responses differ from men’s, yet evidence and trial representation remain limited.
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Brain and mental health conditions, where women report higher rates of poor mental health, anxiety and depression, and where pharmacological treatment gaps are significant.
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Hormonal health and menopause, where stigma, low awareness of the full symptom spectrum, variable access to hormone therapy and shortages in primary care contribute to under-diagnosis and undertreatment.
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Chronic pelvic pain, where endometriosis, uterine fibroids and polycystic ovary syndrome are prevalent but still under-researched, with long diagnostic delays and limited coordinated care.
Marie-Renée B-Lajoie, partner at McKinsey & Company and an ER physician, called the blueprint “our roadmap to a $37bn opportunity — and to unlocking the health potential of 20 million Canadian women.”
She said she sees the cost of inaction in the ER every day, including delayed diagnoses and preventable complications, in systems “that weren’t built with women in mind.”
