The Efficient Society: Why Canada is as Close to Utopia as it Gets is a book by Canadian philosopher and author Joseph Heath.

[citation needed] Drawing on rational choice and game theory, Heath argues that a vast array of social problems are in fact the result of prisoner's dilemmas and collective action problems.

This is one of the reasons, Heath argues, that the United Nations Annual Human Development Report consistently ranks Canada as the best place in the world to live.

Canadians throughout their history have shown greater tolerance for government intervention than their American counterparts and Heath argues that it is for this reason that Canada is "as close to utopia as its gets".

[citation needed] "Comparing health care provision in the United States and Canada (i.e., private versus public insurance schemes), Heath argues that while both systems have inherent problems, the greatest level of well-being with respect to health is to be found in welfare, not market-based, economies... Heath also argues that by maintaining physicians on a fee schedule, as opposed to letting the market establish the price of services, the Canadian health care system keeps the amount of gross domestic product spent on health care significantly lower than in the US."