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CALGARY — Concerns over the aging population and the rising cost of pharmaceuticals may be distracting from one of the fastest-growing healthcare expenditures in Canada: doctor pay.

A report released Tuesday by the University of Calgary School of Public Policy estimates the average paycheque earned by a typical Canadian physician has risen by about 30% in constant dollars over the past decade.

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Since 2000, the average doctor went from earning three-and-a-half times the typical worker’s salary to four and-a-half times that amount, the report said.

Professor Hugh Grant, an economics professor at the University of Winnipeg, said fears of doctor shortages and brain drains have spooked provincial governments into wage hikes that have far outstripped the gains made by the average Canadian.

“I think most people acknowledge now that the physician shortage was highly exaggerated,” he said. “There are enough physicians in Canada; there are lots of physicians in Canada.”