Obesity Canada tells Ottawa to count, measure, and fund the country's costliest chronic disease
Canada loses an estimated $27.6bn annually to obesity, according to a 2025 study in BMC Public Health, including $5.9bn in direct health care costs, $21.7bn in lost workforce participation, and $5.1bn in foregone tax revenue.
The federal government still does not formally recognise obesity as a chronic disease.
Obesity Canada submitted four recommendations to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance ahead of Budget 2026, calling on Ottawa to close that gap through formal disease recognition, national surveillance, coordinated policy, and dedicated research funding.
Nearly 33 percent of Canadians were living with obesity in 2023, up approximately eight percentage points since 2009, according to a 2025 study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
The World Obesity Federation projects that figure could reach 50 percent by 2035.
Obesity Canada describes obesity as an upstream chronic disease that contributes to more than 200 downstream conditions, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.
The submission's first and most foundational recommendation asks the federal government to formally recognize obesity as a chronic disease and direct Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada to align policies, programs, and communications accordingly.
The Canadian Medical Association and the World Health Organization already recognize obesity as a chronic disease; Alberta became the first Canadian province to follow in 2025.
Obesity Canada argues that without federal recognition, obesity will continue to be addressed inconsistently across policy with direct consequences for health system costs, workforce outcomes, and economic productivity.
The second recommendation calls for funding to add obesity to the Canadian Chronic Disease Surveillance System (CCDSS), including a standardized case definition, regular public reporting, and full integration into federal monitoring.
Despite being the most prevalent and costly chronic disease in Canada, and a major driver of conditions already tracked in the CCDSS, obesity is not itself included.
A gap the submission says undermines evidence-based policy and accountability.
The third recommendation asks the government to fund and convene a national obesity roundtable led by Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada.
The roundtable would bring together clinical experts, researchers, provinces and territories, Indigenous partners, caregivers, and people living with obesity.
The submission notes that more than a decade has passed since the Senate of Canada published Obesity in Canada: A Whole-of-Society Approach for a Healthier Canada.
Since then, the scientific understanding of obesity and the treatment landscape have changed significantly, including the emergence of new evidence-based therapies.
The fourth recommendation asks the government to direct the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to establish a dedicated obesity funding program spanning prevention, treatment, health system delivery, long-term outcomes, and stigma reduction, with involvement from people living with obesity and Indigenous communities.
Obesity Canada acknowledges that no single budget resolves decades of policy misalignment.
Budget 2026 can, however, establish foundational steps including recognition, measurement, coordination, and investment needed to treat obesity as the serious chronic disease the evidence supports.
