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from referral to care: new study shows canadians are waiting the longest in recorded history to get the care they need

canadian patients are waiting an average of 30 weeks from the time they request a referral to the time they receive treatment from a specialist, showcasing the country's inadequate access to care.

by angelica bottaro
published dec 18, 2024
last updated dec 19, 2024
read time 4 minute read
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waiting too long for adequate care can mean the difference between life and death. getty images
canada’s current health system is overcrowded. many people require certain levels of care, but there aren’t enough physicians or nurses to go around. those in the healthcare system know this all too well. now, a new study and report conducted and created by the frasier institute has found that their anecdotal evidence of waiting “forever” to see a doctor is accurate. the data showed that the median wait time was 222 per cent longer than in 1993, when the report was first established.
the report, aptly named waiting your turn: wait times for health care in canada, showed that the average length of wait from when a person is referred to by their physician to seeing the specialist sits at 30 weeks. in 1993, the same referral to a specialist timeline took only 9.3 weeks. the number has increased steadily since the early 1990s, with the data showing that even in the last year, the wait times went up from 27.7 weeks in 2023.
this data shows what many canadians waiting for healthcare already know, clearly illustrating access to care issues within the country.

wait times by specialty

researchers called on physicians across various specialties, including radiotherapy, gynecology, multiple surgical specialties, cardiovascular appointments, medical oncology and ophthalmology, to assess wait times from general practitioner (gp) to specialist appointment and then again to treatment.

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those who experienced the shortest waits were those who were referred for radiation and medical oncology at 4.5 and 4.7 weeks, respectively, with elective cardiovascular surgery also being a less extended wait at only 12.8 weeks.
neurosurgery, plastic surgery, and orthopedic surgery were associated with the most extended wait times, at 46.2 weeks, 41.4 weeks, and 57.5 weeks, respectively.
the data also broke down the numbers to show how long it took someone to get treatment after seeing a specialist. those who needed oncology treatment waited the least amount of time, with those needing orthopaedic surgery waiting the most.

wait times by province

provinces each have their own respective health systems in order, so the average amount of time a person has to wait to see a specialist for a health complaint varies in that regard, too. for example, people living in quebec and ontario wait the least amount of time, at only 9.1 and 12.7 weeks, respectively, whereas those living in prince edward island and the other maritime provinces wait the longest, ranging from 25.4 to 39.8 weeks.
the western provinces of canada, including british columbia, alberta, saskatchewan, and manitoba, all have somewhat similar wait times, ranging from 15 to 21.3 weeks.
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wait times between gp referral and treatment

the overall length of time it takes people to access treatment is even more significant in many areas. people living in prince edward island often have to wait as long as 77.4 weeks to get treatment after being given a referral for a health complaint that requires a specialist, with new brunswick not far behind at 69.4 weeks.
ontario and quebec have the shortest wait times from referral to treatment, at 23.6 and 28.9 weeks, respectively, with the remaining provinces hovering between 29.5 and 43.2 weeks.
for many, waiting that long for therapy can severely reduce the quality of life and health outcomes of patients. the surveyed clinicians reviewed the data and found that canadian patients were waiting a month and a half longer than they should have.
this shows that while doctors and nurses are doing what they can, the way the system is currently set up is not “clinically reasonable” in providing adequate care.

the consequences

while not all specialty referrals are something life-threatening or severe, many can be, and for those patients, waiting too long to see a doctor and then obtain treatment can be the difference between life and death.
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according to research released by secondstreet.org, a think tank that takes a closer look into government policies, canadians are dying while waiting for proper care or diagnostics at an alarming rate.
the data, which was conducted to reflect a year-long period between 2022 and 2023, showed that 17,032 patients died while their names sat on a waitlist for life-saving surgeries or life-altering procedures such as heart operations or hip replacements.
that said, according to the press release, those numbers could be even higher since provinces only provided partial data. according to secondstreet.org, the number of patients dying while waiting for care could be almost double that at 31,397 patients.
this data shows that the number of waiting list deaths has increased by nearly 67 per cent in the last five years, and between 2022 and 2023, it rose by 30 per cent.

solving the problem

while the number of healthcare providers and underfunding are issues in the healthcare system, money may not be the solution. since 1992, per capita government spending on healthcare has risen significantly, surpassing the inflation rate nearly twofold.
colin craig, the president of secondstreet.org, said in a press release that “governments are leaving patients for dead.” he also noted that the only way to truly address the issue is through “meaningful health reform,” which could mean following in the footsteps of other countries, such as those in europe, that allow private clinics to establish themselves alongside public healthcare.
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“ontario, alberta, and other provinces are hiring private clinics to help provide surgery to patients in the public system. this is a good first step,” craig said in a press release. “sweden and other european countries have shown this can help. however, more needs to be done. at the very least, governments need to do a better job of tracking this problem and assessing just how many patients died because they had to wait too long for surgery.”
angelica bottaro
angelica bottaro

angelica bottaro is the lead editor at healthing.ca, and has been content writing for over a decade, specializing in all things health. her goal as a health journalist is to bring awareness and information to people that they can use as an additional tool toward their own optimal health.

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