Wait Times For Medical Treatment Continue To Rise: Study

Canadians are waiting longer than ever for medically necessary elective care, according to a new study.

The Fraser Institute, an independent think-tank, released its annual report Thursday on health care wait times.

Each year, it surveys specialist physicians across 12 specialities to get an idea of what the wait times are.

Canadians are now waiting an average of 27.4 weeks for treatment after a family doctor referral, according to the survey.

That is up from 25.6 weeks reported last year and 20.9 weeks before the pandemic started. When the survey first started in 1993, average wait times were 9.3 weeks.

“The results of this year’s survey indicate that COVID-19 and related hospital closures have exacerbated, but are not the cause, of Canada’s historic wait times challenges,” said Bacchus Barua, the report’s co-author and director of the Fraser Institute’s Centre for Health Policy Studies.

Prince Edward Island recorded the longest wait time at 64.7 weeks, according to the survey.

That is followed by Nova Scotia at 58.2 weeks and New Brunswick at 43.3 weeks.

Ontario reported the shortest wait time at 20.3 weeks. British Columbia was the only other province below the national average at 25.8 weeks.

National wait times were the longest between a referral by a family doctor and neurosurgery, where patients waited an average of 58.9 weeks. The shortest wait times were for radiation treatments at 3.9 weeks.

The survey also found patients are experiencing significant waiting times for various diagnostic technologies. Canadians could expect to wait 5.4 weeks for a CT scan, 10.6 weeks for an MRI scan, and 4.9 weeks for an ultrasound.

And physicians report that their patients are waiting over six weeks longer for treatment after seeing a specialist than what they consider to be clinically reasonable.

Mackenzie Moir, who also co-authored the report, said excessively long wait times remain a “defining characteristic” of Canada’s health care system.

“They aren’t simply minor inconveniences, they can result in increased suffering for patients, lost productivity at work, a decreased quality of life, and in the worst cases, disability or death,” said Moir.

You can view the full report by clicking here.