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How Long is Too Long? Canadian Healthcare Wait Times
By: Benefits by Design | Tuesday July 7, 2020
Updated : Tuesday September 10, 2024
With the COVID-19 pandemic, provincial health ministers prioritized hospital space for coronavirus patients and canceled thousands of elective surgeries. These cancellations will result in an increase to already lengthy wait times for Canadians looking to see specialists.
It is easy to think of Canada’s healthcare system as a single organism. Still, the truth is that Canada’s healthcare system is broken up into pieces — one health plan per province and territory.
With no federal healthcare system in place (that’s what national pharmacare might provide), Canadians in each province or territory have varying health plans, coverages, and access to practitioners. This means that wait times associated with getting certain tests, referrals to specialists, or even surgery, vary widely by province.
Download the Infographic: 2022 Wait Times For Health Care In Canada (PDF: 347 KB)
Waiting for Treatment in Canada can be Harmful
Waiting for treatment in Canada, depending on the circumstances, can have serious consequences. These consequences may include poorer medical outcomes, increased or prolonged pain, and negative impacts on mental health. In dire circumstances, prolonged waits can even transform potentially curable illnesses and injuries into irreversible chronic conditions or permanent disabilities.
For example, consider someone waiting for surgery to help alleviate major pain and discomfort and the added stress that could bring.
Or worse still, a potentially curable disease or illness that, due to waiting too long, spreads and becomes chronic or untreatable.
In addition, consider the financial impacts on Canadians unable to work while they wait for treatment. Employers should also consider the impact on benefits plans as they take Long Term Disability (LTD) Insurance leave.
Healthcare Wait Times During and After COVID-19
The global COVID-19 pandemic has affected many things, but healthcare, understandably, has been one of the most impacted.
Thousands of elective surgeries were postponed and as a result, wait times in Canada over the next few years are likely to increase even further as hospitals and doctors deal with their backlogs.
Some hospitals are already making special preparations to resume elective surgeries after COVID-19, but the question isn’t whether or not COVID-19 will affect healthcare wait times — it’s how much.
Health care wait times in Canada – comparing the last three decades
So How Long is Too Long? An Infographic
Every year, the Fraser Institute looks at the average wait time for Canadians to see a specialist. Based on their research and findings, we created the infographic below to bring health care wait times to the forefront of Canadians’ minds.
The Infographic itself is based on the Fraser Institute’s 2019 Report Waiting Your Turn: Wait Times for Health Care in Canada and 2021 Report Waiting Your Turn: Wait Times for Health Care in Canada.
Like the infographic? Download a copy.
Download the Health Care Wait Times 2021 vs. 2019 Infographic (PDF: 122 KB)
Infographic: Wait Times for Health Care in Canada
Data is derived from Waiting Your Turn: Wait Times for Health Care in Canada 2019 Report and 2021 Report from the Fraser Institute
Median Wait Times by Province in 2021
Weeks waited from a General Practitioner referral to treatment:
British Columbia — 26.2 weeks
Alberta — 24 weeks
Saskatchewan — 30.9 weeks
Manitoba — 31.5 weeks
Ontario — 18.5 weeks
Quebec — 29.1 weeks
Newfoundland and Labrador — 21.1 weeks
New Brunswick — 39.7 weeks
Prince Edward Island — 41.6 weeks
Nova Scotia — 53.2 weeks
Specialties
Cardiology — Study and treatment of disorders of the heart and blood vessels.
General Surgery — Surgical care for alimentary tract, abdomen, breast, skin, and soft tissue, and the endocrine system.
Otorhinolaryngology — Medical and surgical specialty that focuses on head and neck diseases and disorders.
Ophthalmology — Study and treatment of disorder of the eye.
Orthopaedic Surgery — Treatment of disorders of the bones, joints, ligaments, tendons and muscles.
Urology — Treatment of the male and female urinary tract (including kidneys).
Median Wait Times by Specialty in 2021
Weeks waited from General Practitioner referral to treatment:
Orthopaedic Surgery — 46.1 weeks
Ophthalmology — 30.6 weeks
Otorhinolaryngology — 34.4 weeks
Urology — 21.6 weeks
General Surgery — 18.1 weeks
Cardiology — 11.8 weeks
Diagnostic Tests
In Alberta, you’ll be waiting 10 weeks to receive a CT-Scan compared to Saskatchewan where you’ll only be waiting 4 weeks.
Need an MRI? In Prince Edward Island, you could be waiting for over 5 months (22 weeks).
Median Wait Times by Province in 2019
Weeks waited from a General Practitioner referral to treatment:
British Columbia — 24 weeks
Alberta — 28 weeks
Saskatchewan — 26 weeks
Manitoba — 32.4 weeks
Ontario — 16 weeks
Quebec — 16.3 weeks
Newfoundland and Labrador — 23.4 weeks
New Brunswick — 39.7 weeks
Prince Edward Island — 49.3 weeks
Nova Scotia — 33.3 weeks
Median Wait Times by Specialty in 2019
Weeks waited from General Practitioner referral to treatment:
Orthopaedic Surgery — 39.1 weeks
Ophthalmology — 28.4 weeks
Otorhinolaryngology — 25.3 weeks
Urology — 15.1 weeks
General Surgery — 14.9 weeks
Cardiology — 11.2 weeks
Diagnostic Tests
In Alberta, you’ll be waiting 7 weeks to receive a CT-Scan compared to Saskatchewan where you’ll only be waiting 2.5 weeks.
Need an MRI? In Prince Edward Island, you could be waiting for over 4 months (18 weeks).
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