Indigenous and low-income people in Canada face higher asthma burden — Asthma Canada calls for urgent action
September 25, 2025, Toronto, ON – On World Lung Day, Asthma Canada is drawing attention to the urgent need to close the equity gap in asthma care across Canada. While over 4.7 million people in Canada live with asthma, not everyone has the same opportunity to manage their condition and live symptom-free lives.
The most recent data show that children and youth from the lowest-income neighbourhoods are hospitalized for asthma 1.5 times more often than those from the highest-income areas¹. Hospitalization rates are also twice as high among households with lower levels of education¹. Meanwhile, Indigenous communities experience asthma rates nearly 40% higher than the general population², compounded by barriers to accessing regular health care providers, safe housing, and affordable medications³.
The global theme for World Lung Day, “Healthy lungs and healthy lives for everyone, everywhere,” highlights the importance of ensuring lung health is accessible to all. Asthma Canada joins the Forum of International Respiratory Societies in advocating for improved respiratory health worldwide, while emphasizing that in Canada, too many people still face preventable barriers to care.
“Asthma should never be a matter of income, geography, or identity,” said Jeff Beach, President & CEO of Asthma Canada. “Yet today in Canada, too many families are forced to choose between paying for groceries and paying for inhalers, or rely on emergency rooms instead of having access to ongoing care. Education is just as vital as access—when patients, families, and healthcare providers are equipped with the right knowledge and resources, lives are saved. These inequities are preventable, and World Lung Day is a reminder that we must act with urgency to ensure no one is left behind.”
Asthma Canada is calling on the federal government to implement a national lung health strategy to deliver solutions that will reduce hospitalizations, strengthen surveillance, and improve access to care for all people in Canada, including populations under federal jurisdiction.
Asthma is the most common chronic lung disease in Canada, yet nearly half of Canadians living with asthma have uncontrolled symptoms that can lead to hospitalizations and, in some cases, death. Each year, more than 300 people die from asthma—deaths that are largely preventable with proper management and access to care.
Asthma Canada recognizes the persistent equity gap in asthma outcomes across income, education, and communities and is taking action through education, research, and advocacy. Its new awareness campaign, The Asthma Roommate, is designed to educate people across Canada about asthma and help them better manage the disease in daily life.
Sources
Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). Socio-economic Inequalities Affect Asthma Hospitalization Rates for Kids. 2022. https://www.cihi.ca/en/socio-economic-inequalities-affect-asthma-hospitalization-rates-for-kids
Statistics Canada. Access to a regular health care provider among Indigenous people in Canada, 2017–2020. 2023. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/41-20-0002/412000022023005-eng.htm
Canadian Research Data Centre Network (CRDCN). Prevalence of and risk factors for asthma in off-reserve Aboriginal children and adults in Canada. 2010. https://crdcn.ca/publication/prevalence-of-and-risk-factors-for-asthma-in-off-reserve-aboriginal-children-and-adults-in-canada
